Harry's New Boggart
by witowsmp
Summary: My version of book 7.  Here's the summary of chapter 1:  Harry's worst fear used to be a dementor, but now he knows how to fight them.  Now he's afraid of something else.
1. Harry's New Boggart

_Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me._

Harry's New Boggart - Chapter 1: Harry's New Boggart 

"Congratulations Fleur," said Harry, facing the new bride. He'd been trying to pretend he was happy all day as he stood in the garden. Fleur's little sister was there as well, as were all the Weasleys except Percy, which he knew must be hurting Mrs. Weasley. Hermione was also there, along with several witches and wizards Harry was not acquainted with. A few had already introduced themselves, shaking his hand and staring at his scar.

He was at the Burrow and had just watched Bill and Fleur get married, doing his best to watch the happy couple, not a certain red-haired bridesmaid wearing a pale gold dress. She's the only person he wanted to be with, but he couldn't. God, she looked good! Every few minutes during the ceremony he'd caught his eyes wandering in Ginny's direction, and straightly pulled them back where they belonged. He cursed himself for wanting to watch her now. After all, he'd made his decision, hadn't he? Now all he had to do was live with it.

Harry was so lost in his thoughts that it took him a few seconds to realize that Fleur Weasley was kissing both his cheeks and saying, "Thankz zzo much, 'Arry! I'm zzo 'appy!" He smiled at her and turned away to his left, intending to go into the house.

That's when his eyes met Ginny's, and he stopped dead. He felt his pulse quicken, as beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. She had an unreadable expression on her face, which meant to Harry that she was sad. If she was happy, she'd be smiling. If she was mad, she'd be glaring at him. She lifted up her right hand and waved casually at him. He automatically waved back wordlessly, and began marching as swiftly as he could toward the house. He couldn't take this! He needed to leave right now. It had been hard enough for him to exist these last few weeks, mostly moping around.

Not that he'd just wasted his time. Hermione wouldn't let him do that. After they'd spent one night with the Dursleys, Hermione, Ron, and he had been preparing for their mission. She had been reading everything she could on detecting magical traps, etc. She was determined to figure out how Professor Dumbledore had detected the secrets of the cave Harry and he had visited on the day his mentor had died. Harry had used some of his gold stocking up on things they might need.

Thinking about what had happened that night, the first thing he bought was a bunch of bezoars in case they had to take poison. Fred and George had given them a lot of their defensive magical items, such as instant darkness powder and shield gloves. Ron was researching charms that might come in handy, such as the one that Dumbledore had used to dry Harry's clothes. At the end of each day, they'd compare notes and practice defensive magic. It was like having D.A. meetings every day.

At least he'd been able to keep busy most of the time that way. He only really thought about Ginny at night. That had been hard enough. He would never admit it to anyone, but he missed that girl more than he'd ever imagined he would! And now here he was, ten feet from her, and all but running away. He knew that if he got any closer, he would lose his resolve. He kept telling himself that he was protecting Ginny, that it was in her best interests to avoid him. She'd live longer that way. When he'd seen the empty expression on her face, a tiny voice inside his head whispered, 'You call that alive?'

He knew what it meant. The phrase, "Neither can live while the other survives" was so deeply etched into his brain that he could never forget that life is more than breathing, existing. Lately he'd felt almost like a Dementor had sucked out his soul. He'd gotten used to the fact that every source of happiness he had was taken from him. First his godfather Sirius, then his mentor and hero Dumbledore, and now his girlfriend Ginny. No, that had been his choice.

He knew she'd have been taken from him if he hadn't pushed her away from him. But she didn't look alive. She was happier before they'd starting dating. Why had he given into that impulse to kiss her? If he hadn't done that, neither one of them would be depressed. They would be friends.

He opened the door and walked into the house, closing the door behind him. He walked toward Ron's bedroom, but as soon as his feet hit the stairs, he heard a noise from Ginny's bedroom. He automatically pulled out his wand. He knew nobody should be in there, but he knocked on the door anyway. Nobody spoke, but he heard a crash from inside the room, so he opened the door and looked around. At first he saw nothing unusual, then he noticed a wooden trunk moving slightly, and he knew what the problem was.

With a slight smile, he remembered a class nearly four years ago, where Professor Lupin had introduced them to a Boggart, a shape-shifter that assumes the form of whatever the one facing it fears the most. He also remembered that his Boggart always became a Dementor, the soul-sucking creatures that would make him relive his parents' death if he let them. Confident that he'd have no trouble defeating this creature, he opened the chest and got his wand ready. It did not become a Dementor.

Standing before him was a Boggart that looked like — Ginny Weasley. He was stunned. This Boggart looked just as beautiful as the real thing. He wasn't afraid of her. Then, remembering Mrs. Weasley's Boggart, he thought he might fear seeing Ginny die, and waited, horrified of that happening. Instead of dying in front of him, Genevra Weasley spoke. She smiled at him and said, "Harry, it's time for you to leave. Go face Voldemort and whatever stands between you and him. I'm not coming with you, no matter how much you need me. I'm going to send Errol with a letter to Dean, and see if he wants to get back together. Maybe if you get back in time, if you get back at all, you can be at our wedding."

Harry wasn't ready to face this Boggart. He knew that it was revealing what he feared the most. It couldn't be right. He cleared his throat and said unsteadily, "Th,that's not what I'm afraid of. I, I d,don't want you coming with me. It'll put you in d,danger. I can't let that happen." This Boggart was almost making him cry.

Boggart/Ginny smiled that beautiful smile he had studied during those glorious five weeks and said, "Maybe part of you doesn't want me in danger, but you know that you need me. You can't live without me. Look at the way you've felt for the past few weeks. You can't fight Voldemort and your own depression at the same time! Face it Harry; you're in love with me and get your strength from me."

"I, I know." Harry said, unsuccessfully fighting back tears and sinking onto the floor next to the door. How was he going to laugh this Boggart away when it reminded him how depressed he was? He missed the Dementors. He could deal with them.

All of the sudden he heard a loud crack, and Boggart/Ginny became an old diary. He then heard a familiar voice shout, "Riddikulus!" and the pages all tore out of it, becoming paper airplanes and zooming around the room in all directions. That same voice began laughing at the paper airplanes, and Harry joined in. Within a few seconds, the Boggart had dissolved.

Harry looked up at the real Ginny, suddenly afraid of what she thought of him, the 'great hero' who couldn't even fight a Boggart. Then he wondered how much of his Boggart she had seen.

She looked down at him in concern and said, "Harry, we need to talk."

He wanted to leave, now! He was embarrassed. He stood up quickly and said, "Um, I don't think…"

"I heard every word your Boggart said," Ginny stated firmly. "I don't care what you say now! You can't convince me now that you don't love me, or that you don't want me coming along with you to fight Voldemort. I just want to know why you won't admit how you feel about me."

Harry wasn't sure if she was mad at him or not. But he did know how stubborn she was. He'd have to say something. He looked into her eyes through tear-stained glasses and said, "I, I don't know. I don't know what I want. Some days I want to kill Voldemort, and some days I just want to die. I didn't want to put you in danger but I don't want to be without you." He hadn't meant to say the last part out loud.

She looked into his eyes and said, "Maybe it's time that you realized that it's my life to risk. Whether I'm at your side or not, I'm a member of a family that Voldemort's followers call 'blood traitors.' Not only that, but everybody knows how close my family is to you. I'm already in danger. Snape and Malfoy know we were dating. Do you think they didn't tell their master? It's not your fault I'm in danger; it's Voldemort's. You've got to stop blaming yourself for what he and the Death Eater's do! I love you. I know you love me too. I want to help you fight Voldemort. I know you want me to. I think it's time for you to stop letting Voldemort rule your life! He wants you to be as lonely and miserable as he is! He doesn't want you to feel love."

"Love," Harry half smiled, while cleaning his glasses with his shirt. "You know, Dumbledore told me that love is the power I have that Voldemort knows not."

"What?" Ginny asked, looking puzzled.

Harry looked at her appraisingly. "This is a complete secret, Ginny. The only people alive who know this are myself, Ron, and Hermione. You can't tell anyone this, no matter how mad I make you." At this, Ginny chuckled slightly. Harry continued, gazing into her eyes, "Do you agree not to ever tell anyone, not even your parents?" She nodded. "I guess you deserve to know about the prophecy. The one the Daily Prophet speculated might be about me. For once, they were actually right. I am the 'Chosen One,' with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord."

"That was destroyed, Harry," Ginny said. "How do you…"

"Just that record of it was destroyed. It had been given to Dumbledore and he showed to me after Sirius…after it happened. It said he would mark me as his equal," Harry pointed to his scar, "…that I'd have a power he knew not, and that '_either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives._'"

Ginny gasped and put a hand over her mouth. Tears were starting to form in her eyes. She reached out and took his hand. She said, "You've known that for a year? Does that mean you've got to kill Voldemort or he'll kill you? No one else has a chance of stopping him, and you have no guarantee that you'll be able to either." He nodded. She said, "That sucks! The reason you seem to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders is because you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders."

"Are you still sure you want to join me?"

"Yes Harry, I am." She said, "If love is Riddle's weakness, then you need the one who loves you more than anyone with you." Harry looked a bit uncomfortable at those words. Ginny said, "We can't play games anymore; there's too much at stake. I'm through saying 'I like you,' or 'I fancy you,' or anything else! I love you more than I love myself! I don't want to live without you!"

"Alright," Harry said sharply, startling Ginny. Then he placed his hand gently on her shoulder and whispered, "Alright. I guess it's time to be honest with you. I do love you. I've been trying to convince myself I don't, but I do." She blushed a little and stared deep into his eyes. He then took a deep breath and said determinedly, "I do want you to come with me."

With the hard, blazing look in her face that he found irresistible, she vowed, "I'll follow you anywhere, into the blazes of Hell itself."

Harry looked at her very seriously when he said, "I hope he doesn't have a Horcrux hidden there."

"A what?" Ginny asked, with a puzzled look in her eyes.

He decided that Dumbledore would approve and said, "I guess I'd better explain," and he told her all about the Horcruxes that Voldemort had created. When he got to the diary, he saw her look nervous, and then angry.

She said, "I think I have more reason than anyone to make sure those horrible things are destroyed!" Harry continued all the way until Dumbledore had died, weakened by the poison he'd swallowed trying to retrieve the fake Horcrux. He then told her about the note from 'R.A.B."

Ginny whispered those letters to herself, and said, "That locket! It can't be Harry, can it? Regulus Black?"

"What? What about Sirius' brother?"

"Don't you remember that locket at Number Twelve Grimmauld place? The one no one could open? Regulus Black — R. B. — we don't know his middle name — was a Death Eater who got in trouble with Voldemort!"

Harry was getting excited. He said, "Are you saying? It's certainly worth a look! I just hope that Mundungus hasn't stolen it! If he has, I'll kill him, whether it's a Horcrux or not!" Then he smiled at Ginny and said, "I'm so glad I told you, I…" At that moment, he put his hands on her cheeks, pulled her face next to hers, and kissed her passionately.

He never knew how long they'd been snogging when he heard both Ron and Hermione laughing. Ron said in mock anger, "You kissed less passionately than that when you were dating!"

Hermione said, "I'm so glad that you're back together, Harry!"

"Well, er," said Harry nervously. "I've got three things to say. First, Ron, I love your sister. Second, she's coming with us. Third, she has an idea about who R.A.B. was."

-

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	2. Slytherin’s Locket

_Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.  
_  
Harry's New Boggart - Chapter 2: Slytherin's Locket 

"Number Twelve Grimmauld Place," said Harry, while standing in the Weasley's fireplace. It was the day after Bill's wedding, and the four of them had decided that the sooner they check out Ginny's hunch about R.A.B., the better. Harry was uneasy about going back to the house that used to belong to Sirius (and now belonged to him), but figured that if he was willing to visit caves guarded by reanimated corpses to defeat Voldemort, he was willing to face a house with memories of a lost loved one. He stepped out of the fireplace there and looked around, waiting for the others to join him.

He didn't have to wait long before Ginny emerged from the flames, walked up to face him, and put her left hand in his right hand. "How are you feeling, Harry?" she asked, with a concerned expression on her face. I know this can't be easy for you."

Harry then grabbed her other hand and said, "I, I half expect Sirius to walk into this room with a big smile on his face to greet us. I know it's been a year, but, I don't know. This house just makes me miss him more."

"Of course it does," said Hermione from behind him. She was standing next to Ron. "If you want to talk about it, we're here for you."

"Yeah," said Ron, looking like he would rather start belching slugs than talk about Sirius.

Harry decided that needed to convince his friends that he was alright. "I appreciate it guys, but we've got a job to do. Ron, you look for the locket. Hermione, you look for anything that might have Regulus' full name. Ginny and I will stay here and snog until you're done. I mean stand guard." Ginny chuckled and Ron gave Harry a dirty look.

Hermione said, "I've got a better idea. Ron and…"

"Yeah, you and Ron will snog while Harry and I…" interrupted Ginny, causing both Hermione and Ron to blush while Harry started laughing.

"…As I was saying," Hermione stated in a calm voice, trying to hide her embarrassment, "Ron and Harry can look for the locket while Ginny and I search for anything that says Regulus' middle name. We'll start with the library." When she saw the looks of disappointment on both Ginny's and Harry's faces, she added playfully to Harry, "I don't think you and Ginny will actually get any work done if you're together."

Ginny feigned anger and said, "I'll have you know it takes a lot of work to properly snog!" Harry's face was quickly turning red as he hid it in his hands. Before he closed his eyes, he noticed that both Ron and Hermione were turning a darker shade of red than he was.

Harry put his hands back down to his side, looked from Ron's red face to Hermione's and asked, "Is there something you two would like to share with us?"

Both Ron and Hermione suddenly became very interested in the floor. After about thirty seconds of complete silence, wherein Ginny began staring at the two of them, Hermione finally opened her mouth. She said, "Er, you guys remember, um, yesterday after we talked. Um, you two went outside for a walk and left Ron and I, er, alone together. We, um, talked, and, er…"

"You wound up snogging each other senseless?" Ginny finished. Ron and Hermione nodded slowly while turning purple. "That's great guys! I'm happy for you!"

"It's about time!" said Harry, as a genuine smile lit up his face. "Why were you trying to hide it?"

Ron answered this time. "We, well, we weren't sure how you would take it. You know, Hermione and me suddenly dating. We were afraid you'd think it would affect our friendship."

"First of all, I know that we're still just as close as ever. I mean, you don't think I like you guys any less just because I'm with Ginny, do you?"

"No," answered Hermione. "It's just…"

"And secondly," continued Harry, exchanging a glance with Ginny, "It's not suddenly! We've known you would end up together for years! Half of Gryffindor is betting on when you'll finally admit your feelings for each other!"

"What?" exclaimed Ron and Hermione together, to Ginny's great amusement.

Harry started chuckling and said, "Ginny, when we get back, remind me to owl Seamus, Neville, and Parvati. They each owe me ten Galleons!"

Ginny started laughing out loud at this, saying in between giggles, "They each owe me five Galleons, too!" At this she and Harry lost control, laughing their heads off for a good five minutes while Ron and Hermione just glared at them.

While Harry was wiping his eyes that had watered from laughing too hard, he said, "Guys, we'd better get to work. We'll split up into the groups Hermione suggested, and snog when we're done, and not a moment sooner. Come on Ron!" Before anyone could object, he'd grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him upstairs toward the drawing room. He said, "If I remember right, the locket we couldn't open was in the glass-fronted cabinets in the drawing room. The same room as the Black family tapestry. It's too bad it only had Regulus Black without his middle name written on it."

They arrived in the room without waking the portrait of Mrs. Black, which was still stuck on the wall. When they got in the room and closed the door, Ron said, "There's got to be a way to get rid of that portrait, even if you have to take off part of the wall! It is your house mate, so you can do what you want, but honestly, I can't stand having to tiptoe by Mrs. Black every time I walk up the stairs."

"I agree with you Ron, but not today! We've got a specific job to do now. Why don't you quickly double-check the tapestry for Regulus' middle name while I start searching the cabinets."

"Alright," said Ron as he walked toward the tapestry.

Harry looked at a music box, remembering how its tune had nearly put them all to sleep until Ginny had the sense to slam it shut. He smiled at that memory and wondered privately why he hadn't fallen for her at that moment. He moved on in his search until he noticed a heavy book entitled, "Natures' Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy." Wondering if it contained the 'Black' family tree, he picked up the tome and opened it. On the first page of the book was written, "This book is charmed so that it is constantly updating itself as members of noble wizarding families are born, marry, have children, and die, so that it is always accurate." He found a table of contents that listed family names such as Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin near the beginning. It also listed names of families he knew, such as Malfoy, Fudge, Dumbledore, Weasley, Potter, and Black. Upon seeing the 'Black' name listed, he immediately turned to the correct page and started scanning the names, noticing that the full names, birth dates, etc. were listed for each person. When he reached the bottom of the list, he found Sirius, as well as Regulus Anthony Black. He shouted, "Hey Ron, look at this! Regulus Anthony Black! Ginny was right!"

"What's that, mate?" asked Ron. Harry quickly showed him the book, and had Ron go find the girls while Harry continued his search.

"Harry, can I see that book?" came Hermione's voice a few minutes later.

"Have you found the locket?" asked Ginny's voice before Harry could answer Hermione.

Harry turned to them both and saw Ron behind them. He smiled at Ginny. "The book is over there, and no, I haven't found the locket, yet."

They all began searching for the locket. When they couldn't find it in the cabinet, they checked the cupboard where Kreacher used to sleep and hide things he didn't want thrown away, but to no avail. When they closed the cupboard, Harry exclaimed, "I bet Dung stole it!"

They decided to continue searching the house, just in case the locket was simply moved, but they all agreed that Mundungus Fletcher had probably taken it. While they were approaching the entrance to the attic, they heard a noise downstairs. Harry signaled them all to be quiet and they all drew their wands. They crept toward the staircase in complete silence, and saw none other than Mundungus himself stalking about with a bag, helping himself to Harry's inheritance. Harry turned to Hermione and said, "I thought he was in Azkaban. You and Ron are of age. Would you mind stupefying that thief for me so we can question him?"

In answer to his question, Hermione pointed her wand at Mundungus and thought, "stupefy." The four of them watched Dung fall to the ground and immediately Mrs. Black's portrait woke up and started screaming about blood traitors and mudbloods. Harry pulled out a pocket knife he'd started carrying after Dumbledore's death and started cutting the sides of the portrait while Mrs. Black started screaming even louder.

Harry shouted at her, "This is my house now, and I am sick of hearing you complain!" To Harry's astonishment, when he'd slashed all the sides of her portrait, it came down. She was still screaming from the canvas that was now rolled up in Harry's hand, but this time she was begging for her life.

Hermione smiled and said, "With all the magic they used trying to remove the frame from the wall, they never thought to try something as simple as cutting the canvas! Well done, Harry! What do you want to do with her portrait now?"

"Burn it. But for now, we've got a piece of Dung downstairs we need to question. Hermione, if you'd lead the way. If you don't mind, bind him before you revive him.

When Dung opened his eyes, he knew he was in trouble. He was wandless, tied to a chair, and staring at three angry looking young people, one of which was Harry Potter, the owner of the house he'd been burglarizing. There was a red-headed boy nearby emptying his bag, examining the contents. He immediately tried to apparate, but found that he couldn't. He looked shocked.

"I see you've discovered the anti-apparition shield I put around you Mr. Fletcher," said Hermione, sounding smug. "We have a few questions for you and didn't want you to leave before answering them."

"For starters," shouted Harry, looking ready to kill, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't pulverize you where you're sitting!"

"I, I was just…"

"Taking an inventory to protect Harry's property?" suggested Ginny with a dangerous look in her face, "How touching. My question is this. Have you ever heard of the Bat Bogey hex?" Ginny was pointing her wand at Dung, who was sweating profusely. "I've been told I do that very well."

Hermione, acting like she was trying to keep the peace, said with a sympathetic tone of voice, "You're lucky they let me revive you. They both wanted to kill you on the spot. I'm sure you know about Harry's temper." She closed her eyes and shivered a little, as though remembering something. "He nearly killed Draco Malfoy a few month's ago, and he'd just insulted Harry, not stolen from him."

"R, Really?"

"Yeah," said Ginny, "Unfortunately, a teacher was able to heal up Draco's cuts before he bled to death. We all thought that he'd be expelled. Thank God for Dumbledore!"

"Anyway," said Hermione, "what we really need to know is whether or not you stole a certain locket that wouldn't open, and where it is now. Harry wants it back for sentimental reasons!"

"The locket, yes, let's see if I remember…"

Harry grabbed Dung by the hair and shouted, "Where is it?"

"It, It's in that bag! I couldn't sell it cause it wouldn't open! Take it!"

Harry turned toward Ron and asked, "Is it there?"

Ron smiled and said, "Yeah, I found it a few minutes ago."

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Ginny.

"You guys looked like you were having too much fun. I didn't want to interrupt."

Everyone laughed at that, and then Hermione stupefied Dung again. Harry asked Ginny if she would floo her mother to get some Order members to take Mundungus off their hands. When she returned, Harry was looking at the now freshly polished locket with a snake on the front. Harry said, "It looks like Slytherin's locket alright. Hermione, do you have any idea if the locket being stuck closed means that the Horcrux is there, or that it's been destroyed?"

"I'm sorry, Harry. I still haven't found a book on Horcruxes yet. I'd say the safest thing to do is assume it hasn't been destroyed."

Ron said, "How do we destroy a Horcrux anyway?"

"Harry managed to destroy one before," said Ginny. "Maybe he can do it the same way."

Harry shrugged and said, "The only trouble is I'm fresh out of basilisk fangs."

-

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	3. Destroying a Horcrux

_Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.  
_  
Harry's New Boggart - Chapter 3: Destroying A Horcrux 

The next morning found Hermione, Ron, and Ginny walking into Knockturn Alley. Harry was also with them, but under his invisibility cloak. Up until now, upon Hermione's insistence, they'd avoided this area. Now however, with a Horcrux in their possession (safely hidden in Harry's room at the Burrow), they had no choice but to use whatever means necessary to find out how to destroy it.

Harry felt that his presence would be too conspicuous, therefore he was under the cloak. He had also started to suggest that Ginny stay home, but upon receiving an evil glare from his girlfriend the moment he'd said, "Er, maybe Ginny…" he said, "never mind." He'd then suggested they both go under the cloak, but Ron had said they'd end up snogging and forget about shopping altogether.

They ended up in front of a dark book shop. The building was small, made of rotting wood that had apparently been painted black several decades before. In Harry's opinion, the building should've been torn down. The faded sign said, 'Da-k -rts B-oks.' Through holes in the door, he could see someone inside, so he whispered to Ginny, "There's someone in there. I suppose we should go in."

Ginny said, "There's somebody in there. Let's go," and opened the door, which creaked loudly, startling the old wizard in ancient, filthy robes inside.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, while watching three young people enter his shop.

"This is a book store, isn't it," said the brunette. "We're here to shop for rare books."

"I don't think I carry anything you'd be interested in!" he yelled.

"You'd be surprised what we're interested in!" yelled Ginny. "That's no way to treat a potential customer! Do you chase all your customers away like that?"

The old man appeared stunned for a moment, and then calmly said, "Fine, you can look around."

"Thank you," said Hermione, and they proceeded to do just that.

After an hour of searching, they had found books on special dark protection charms, rare dark creatures, and powerful dark spells. They even found a book that had a chapter on Horcruxes that said how to detect them, but not how to create or destroy them. Upon consulting with Harry, since it was his money, they decided to purchase them. Ron found a book describing evil methods of cheating in Quidditch games that he talked Harry into letting him buy. When they went back to the old man and said they wanted to buy those books, he said, "A hundred Galleons each!"

Ginny shouted, "You're crazy! In case you haven't noticed, hardly anybody comes into this shop, so you probably haven't sold anything for months! We'll give you fifty Galleons for the lot."

He looked into Ginny's unflinching face and smiled slightly. "One hundred for the lot."

"Sixty."

"Seventy-five."

"Done," said Ginny, triumphantly. "Hermione, hand the man his money."

As Hermione pulled the money out of her purse, Harry couldn't help but smile while staring at Ginny. He was simply amazed at her. He found new reasons to love her every day, and couldn't help but wonder why she loved him. When they were safely out of the shop, he whispered to Ginny, "You were amazing in there!"

She whispered back simply, "Negotiation is something you have to learn when you're financially challenged."

"I didn't see Ron arguing price with the old man."

She smiled, "Well, Ron, er, isn't very good at that sort of thing. When he hears a price he can't afford, he gets mad and leaves." Then she put on a wicked smile. "I, on the other hand, find a way to get whatever I want, even if it's a dark-haired, green-eyed, teenage boy." He chuckled as he blushed under his cloak.

They spent a few more hours exploring other shops, purchasing a few items, including a 'hand of glory' like Malfoy had used against them. As much as they hated to admit it, Draco had come up with a good strategy using the 'hand of glory' in conjunction with instant darkness powder. When they arrived back at the Burrow with a few shopping bags and less money, they didn't feel it had been a wasted trip, even though they still hadn't found a way to destroy a Horcrux. They were surprised to find Professor McGonagall sitting in the kitchen, having tea with Mrs. Weasley.

"There you are," said an annoyed looking Molly Weasley, "I was wondering if you'd ever get back from Diagon Alley! Anyway, Ms. McGonagall wants to see Harry."

"Ms. McGonagall?" asked the four teenagers in unison.

"Yes," said Minerva McGonagall. "Hogwarts' board of governors has decided to close the school temporarily this year and then vote on whether to make it permanent next year." She looked sad and her lips were thinner than ever as she made that announcement. "As we speak, letters are being sent to all the students. For the time being, I am not your teacher, so the use of the title, 'professor' would be inappropriate. However, the former faculty, such as myself, are welcome to live there until the vote next year since the castle won't be needed for anything else anyway." She then turned to Harry. "Harry, may I speak with you alone?"

"Of course, Prof…I mean, Ms. McGonagall," said Harry. He was a bit confused that even though he hadn't planned on attending, he was disappointed that the school wouldn't be open. He led her to the room that used to belong to the twins, where he'd been staying.

When Harry had closed the door, Ms. McGonagall pointed her wand at the door and window, and then said, "I need to speak to you about two things. The first is that Professor Dumbledore has left you and your friends some things at the castle in his will." At this statement, Harry looked down but said nothing. She continued nervously, "The next thing is a little strange. The portrait of Professor Dumbledore woke up this morning. He wishes to speak with you. He says it is very important."

"He, what, oh," said Harry. Then he smiled and said, "I'd like to speak to him, too. Did he say I had to be alone?"

"Well, he said you should bring Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, and if you'd like to, Miss Weasley." She smiled at Harry when he blushed at the mention of Miss Weasley. "He doesn't want anybody else to realize that his portrait has awoken yet. Usually headmaster portraits don't awaken until the new headmaster has been officially appointed. Prior to his death, he'd performed a spell to awaken his portrait earlier than usual."

"Wow," said Harry. "Can we see him tonight?"

"Yes, of course, but I've no idea how long he'll want to speak to you. You should probably plan to spend the night."

Harry found himself getting very excited. "Okay. Would you mind going downstairs and telling the others to come up here? I'd like to see them before committing to an overnight."

"Very well Mr. Potter. I shall be waiting downstairs for your answer."

While Harry was waiting for the others, he got Slytherin's locket out of its hiding place and stuck it in his pocket.

"Harry," came Ginny's voice from behind him. "What's going on?" Ron and Hermione were right behind her.

"Hermione," said Harry, "make sure no one can overhear us." After she'd cast the appropriate charms, Harry said excitedly, "Professor Dumbledore's left us some stuff at Hogwarts, and his portrait wants to see us! The only thing is we can't tell anyone that his portrait has woken up. Prof, Ms. McGonagall wants us to spend the night at Hogwarts!"

The others all looked stunned for a few seconds until Ginny said enthusiastically, "We can ask him about how to destroy the Horcrux!"

"Exactly!" said Harry

"And we can ask him if he has any notes or research or other books on Horcruxes as well," said an excited Hermione.

"Maybe we can visit the Quidditch pitch," said Ron, earning stares from the other three.

"Honestly Ronald," said an exasperated Hermione, "Is that the only thing you can think about?"

"Not the only thing," said Ron winking, causing Hermione to blush while both Harry and Ginny rolled their eyes.

Harry said, "I doubt we'll have time for Quidditch."

"Okay," said Ron. "It was just an idea."

They packed some clothes, as well as their new books (minus Ron's Quidditch book) and came downstairs to find that Ms. McGonagall had already convinced Mrs. Weasley to let them spend the night at Hogwarts, saying that Dumbledore had left them a few items at the castle.

They all flooed to Dumbledore's former office, and Minerva McGonagall told them that she would leave them alone with Professor Dumbledore, and she walked out the door.

"Hello Harry," came Dumbledore's jovial voice from the other side of the room.

Harry's, as well as his friends' eyes, filled with unshed tears. "H, Hi Professor Dumbledore," he said tentatively.

"Is Ms. Granger with you?" asked Dumbledore.

"I am," said Hermione softly.

"Then by all means cast a silencing charm on the door and then all of you come and stand where I can see you!" said Professor Dumbledore enthusiastically. "We have much to discuss." They did as they were told. As soon as Ginny came into view, Dumbledore said with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes, "Miss Weasley! I'm very glad to see you here. I admit I was afraid that Harry would push you away after my untimely death. I'm glad to see I was mistaken."

"Er, actually sir," said Ginny with a mischievous grin, "You weren't mistaken. He did dump me at your funeral."

"What? Of all places?" said Dumbledore calmly. "Obviously something has changed since then."

Harry blushed slightly and said, "I realized that I can't live without her, with the help of a Boggart."

"Really?" asked the old headmaster, his eyes twinkling. Ron and Hermione, who hadn't been told about Harry's new Boggart, asked in unison, "A Boggart?" and looked at Harry for an explanation.

Harry explained what had happened, including his decision to tell Ginny everything, to which Dumbledore gave his immediate approval, and then about how they'd visited Grimmauld Place, caught 'Dung,' who they learned from Arthur had just been released from Azkaban after three months, and found the locket.

Harry then took the locket out and showed it to the professor, who said, "It was a good idea for you to ask Arthur to modify Mr. Fletcher's memory so that he doesn't remember you were interested in it. I'm also pleased that you found a way to remove Mrs. Black's portrait from the wall. I'm also obviously thrilled that you have already located a Horcrux. I knew I had not made a mistake when I placed my confidence in you, Harry."

Harry's face turned slightly pink at this praise. "The only trouble is, sir, I don't know how to destroy a Horcrux."

Hermione added, "We even searched Knockturn Alley for books on them, and the only book we found only says how to identify one."

"That's quite an achievement to even find a book that says that much, Miss Granger. However, there is no set way how to destroy a Horcrux. The method I used to destroy that ring cost me my hand and nearly killed me in the process. The method Harry used on the diary had no ill affect on him. I wonder if it would work for the others."

"The basilisk's tooth?" said Harry, noticing Ginny's face turning slightly pale. "I joked about that yesterday, but do you really think we should try it?" He put his hand near Ginny's hand and she squeezed it tightly.

"I believe it is worth a shot," said Hermione, looking excited. "It has worked in the past."

"I suppose so," said Ron, "but that means we'd have to go to the…"

"Chamber of Secrets," said Ginny quietly.

Harry said, "Alright! Ron and I will go down there and get the snake's teeth, while Hermione and Ginny start reading our new…"

"No!" yelled Ginny. "I'm not gonna stay up here while you go down there. Harry, I told you I'd follow you anywhere, even if it means…"

"You don't have to do this, Gin," said Harry.

"Yes I do!" said Ginny, firmly. "Harry, you saw my Boggart. It's been over four years, and I still think about what happened down there. I think it's about time I faced my fear."

Harry realized there was no way to change that beautiful redhead's mind. "Ok. You, Ron, and I…"

"No. Please Harry, just you and me."

"Why not me?" asked a scandalized-looking Ron.

"Because she probably wants privacy!" said Hermione.

"Why, are they planning to snog?" asked Ron.

"Not bloody likely!" said Ginny. "We'll do that in the common room when we get back."

Harry blushed, and then Dumbledore, who'd been enjoying this exchange, said from his portrait, "Excellent! It is settled. Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley will go down to the chamber to retrieve basilisk fangs, while Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley will do research while we wait. Miss Granger, it may interest you to know that I myself have several notes on Horcruxes, along with another book, in this very office."

-

Thirty minutes later Harry and Ginny found themselves carrying two school brooms, a mid-size bucket and the sword of Gryffindor into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Myrtle immediately said, "Harry, what are you doing here, you monster!

"Wh-what?" asked a confused Harry. He always thought she liked him.

"I saw you try to kill that nice blond boy here! He was my friend!"

"Draco was plotting Professor Dumbledore's murder!" yelled Harry. "He was crying to you because he was having trouble getting Death Eaters into the school! He serves the one responsible for your death!"

"Wh, What?" asked Myrtle, looking horrified.

"Lord Voldemort, who was then known as Tom Riddle, opened this chamber and released a basilisk. You died when you saw its eyes," said Ginny.

"What? Tom, the handsome Slytherin prefect? No!" With that she began crying loudly and fled down her toilet.

"I'm glad she's gone," said Harry, as he began hissing to open the entrance.

"You know, Harry, in my second year I thought about asking you to bring me down here to face my fear," said Ginny nervously.

"Why didn't you?" asked Harry.

"I was afraid you'd laugh at me or think I was hitting on you."

Harry looked concerned and hurt. "Was I really that bad? I don't think I was ever mean to you. Was I?"

"No Harry. You were always polite to me, even when my crush made you uncomfortable. I was stupid to think you wouldn't want to help me, because that's what you've always been about — helping people." She sighed, "I should've done this years ago." As she faced the entrance, she trembled slightly.

"Gin, please don't get upset, but I want to ask you one more time if you're sure you want to do this. No one will think less of you…"

"I'm sure. I need to do this." She then jumped into the Chamber of Secrets, followed closely by her boyfriend.

After rushing down the slimy, dark slide, they both got up and Ginny grabbed his hand. They put their brooms under their shoulders, pulled out their wands, and said, "Lumos," causing them to light up. They then mounted their brooms and flew forward, each holding their wands ahead of them like headlights. Harry had Gryffindor's sword in the bucket, and was awkwardly holding the bucket between his knees, forcing himself (and Ginny, who didn't want to be alone) to fly slowly.

They quickly came across the remains of the snakeskin and the cave in Professor Lockhart had caused. There was just enough room for them to fly past the rocks on the ground that Ron had cleared out a year earlier. Then they reached the solid wall on which two entwined serpents were carved. Harry hissed, "Open," in the language only he and Voldemort could speak. The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Harry and Ginny, still on broomsticks, flew inside.

They quickly flew past the pillars and came to the spot where Harry had found Ginny a year ago. They dismounted their brooms.

Ginny knelt on the floor, putting her hands where she had awoken years before, and started trembling slightly. "This, this is the spot where you found me." Unshed tears were now starting to form in her eyes. "There's what's left of the basilisk," she said pointing at a smelly, decomposing snake."

"Uh-huh. Here's the tooth I stuck through the diary," said Harry, picking up the object he had discarded long ago, and putting it in the bucket.

Ginny looked at him and said, "I don't know anything that happened down here until I woke up. If you wouldn't mind, would you please tell me what happened when you got here?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I never did tell you about it, did I? I suppose it's about time. You may be disappointed in your hero after I tell you, though." He then told her the whole story, starting with finding her lying face down on the floor, ending with her waking up. He left nothing out.

Ginny remained silent, listening intently to the ordeal Harry had gone through for her. Finally, she spoke. "How could I be disappointed in you after that? You really were the brave hero slaying the monster to save the damsel in distress!" She smiled slightly.

"I was just lucky Fawkes came to help. I don't even know how to fight with a sword. I was just lucky to beat the basilisk. And even then I would've died if Fawkes didn't heal me with her tears."

Ginny said, "I know I put you in terrible danger, and I'm so sorry about it, but you were brilliant! Don't let anyone tell you differently. How many second-years would've even tried to save me while the defense teacher was cowering in fear? Time and time again you've proven yourself to be a hero. An imperfect hero, but a hero nonetheless. I know you've made mistakes. We all have. This chamber is proof of my biggest mistake. We just have to learn from our mistakes and move on!" She then started crying. Harry put his arms around her and held her while she cried on his shoulder.

When she was finished, Harry said, "I guess we should get the other fangs off the snake, and grabbed the sword. They started walking toward the smelly snake until Ginny cast a spell to clean the air. Harry asked, "Where'd you learn that spell?"

Ginny smiled and said, "When you grow up with brothers who like putting dung bombs in your room, you end up doing a lot of research into these types of spells."

Harry chuckled a little, and then said, "Hermione's parents are dentists. I wonder what they'd think of these teeth."

They managed to cut out the other three sharp fangs, a rather bloody business, with no serious setbacks, and scourgified each other so they didn't look like sectumsempra victims. Harry said, "Do you think we've been here long enough?"

"I certainly have. Thanks, Harry, for letting me cry on your shoulder."

"That's what boyfriends are for," said Harry. "Well, that and snogging."

"How can you even think of snogging in this place?" scolded Ginny. Then she winked and said, "I told you, in the common room." They then mounted the two school brooms and flew out of the chamber and into the bathroom, happy to find that Myrtle still wasn't back.

When they arrived at the headmaster's office, they found Hermione and Ron sitting at a desk reading what were obviously Dumbledore's notes. Also on the desk, Harry noticed a pair of dragon hide gloves, a heavy apron made of a material Harry was unfamiliar with, and a helmet that was obviously from one of the suits of armor. Dumbledore's portrait said, "You're back. I take it you were successful." Harry and Ginny both nodded. "Excellent!"

Hermione said, "I managed to test the locket for a Horcrux, and it does have one. From what I've read, the poison from a basilisk's tooth is magical so that it doesn't just destroy bodies, but anything it comes in contact with. I think that since it destroyed the Horcrux in the diary, it should destroy this one as well.

I also read in Professor Dumbledore's notes about a Horcrux made by a dark lord called Sauron that was destroyed in a volcano many millennia ago. If this doesn't work, we might want to consider that option, although that would be extremely dangerous. I don't think anything will go wrong, but I had Ron collect this safety gear," she pointed at the helmet, etc., "for you to wear just in case. We'll all be standing on the other side of the office."

"Speak for yourself," said Ginny. "I'll be next to Harry."

"If something happens and you're next to me, you might be hurt, too. Then you wouldn't be able to help me," reasoned Harry. Ginny nodded and walked to the other side of the room along with Ron and Hermione. Harry put the locket on the desk (which had been cleared off), put on the safety gear, and grabbed one of the basilisk fangs. He took a deep breath, said, "Here goes nothing," and plunged the tooth into the Horcrux as hard as he could.

His hands felt warm as he watched the poison flow into the now broken locket. For a few seconds, nothing happened, then there was a flash of light coming from the Horcrux, and then everything was back to normal. Harry said, "I think I did it. Hermione, would you run the test?"

It seemed everyone in the room held their breath for the two minutes it took to perform the spell. When it was over, she excitedly announced, "The Horcrux is destroyed!"

After a few minutes of mild celebration, Dumbledore said, "Harry, I got so occupied with the Horcrux that I almost forgot one of the reasons I called you here. My will."

"Oh yeah," said Harry. "Prof, Ms. McGonagall mentioned something about that."

"I left several of my belongings to others, but left my private library to Miss Granger, my collection of muggle sweets to be divided between Mr. and Miss Weasley here, my Pensieve, my real estate, which consists of several houses, and half of my Gringotts vault to you, Mr. Potter. The other half was left to the order."

"What?" said Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione together.

-

Please review.


	4. A Pensive Discussion

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 4

A Pensive Discussion

Harry awoke in the boys' dorm the next morning feeling really good about things. He had destroyed a horcrux! Three down, three more to go. Then it would be time to face Riddle. Harry left Ron snoring in bed while he showered and magically shaved (which consisted of pointing a wand at your face and saying a spell – the result being a perfect shave every time without ever cutting yourself). When he was finished, he went downstairs to the common room feeling pretty good about things. He had brought the pensieve into the common room the previous night, and decided that they'd find out what memories were inside it today. He found a worried-looking Hermione downstairs pouring over Dumbledore's notes. "Good morning!" he said brightly, startling his friend.

"Oh," she muttered, "Hi Harry."

"I'm glad we destroyed that horcrux last night."

"Er, me too," said Hermione apprehensively.

"Are you gonna tell me what's on your mind?" asked Harry.

"What do you mean?" said Hermione defensively. "Nothing's on my mind."

"I've known you far too long to be fooled by that, Hermione." Harry sat down across from her and looked into her eyes. "What's wrong?"

She sighed. "Nothing's specifically wrong, Harry. I was just thinking about how easy it was for us to find and destroy the locket."

"Because Regulus had already found it and 'Dung tried to burglarize Sirius' I mean my house?"

"Exactly. I just don't want us to believe that the others will be so easy to acquire."

"Easy? Both Regulus and Dumbledore died because of that locket," said Harry seriously. "We just reaped the benefits of their work."

"I know," agreed Hermione. "Now we've got to work. Professor Dumbledore had a lot of information about the horcruxes, as well as possible locations, in his notes. He listed ten locations, two of which were the house of Gaunt and the cave, which as you know, the horcruxes have been removed from. That leaves eight places to search for two horcruxes – Hufflepuff's cup and whatever the other one is. Presumably Voldemort's snake will be with him."

"How far away can you detect one with that spell?"

"Two meters."

Harry took a deep breath. "That's not very far," said Harry. "I was kind of hoping you could just point at a house and say if one was there."

"Like I said, it won't be easy."

"I guess not. Er, what locations did he list?"

"His orphanage, the Riddle House, his parent's graves, the Slytherin dormitory, the chamber of secrets – unlikely since that's what the diary was related to, a place in Rome, and a place in Salem."

"Italy and America?" asked Harry, clearly surprised.

"Yes Italy and America," said an exasperated Hermione. "He traveled all over the world studying dark magic."

"I guess so," said Harry. "We'll save those places for last."

"I agree. I think the first places we should search are the locations here at Hogwarts."

"All right," said Harry. Then he leaned in closer and whispered conspiratorially, "Let's not tell Ron and Ginny about revisiting the chamber though. I don't think she needs to go back down there."

"Back down where?" asked Ginny's voice from behind him. "Not the chamber again?"

Harry placed his head in his hands. "What's the point in trying to keep something from you?"

"There is no point, Love," she said with smirk on her face. "I thought you'd figured that out already."

Hermione chuckled, then said seriously, "One of several places that Dumbledore suspects could have a horcrux hidden is the Chamber of Secrets. We feel that it's unlikely, since the diary was related to it, and was actually destroyed in it, but we thought we'd double-check it just to make sure."

"Oh," said Ginny, with an unreadable expression on her face.

"He also thought Tom may have hidden one in the Slytherin dormitory."

"Well," said Ginny, "since he'd already made one when he was sixteen, he certainly could have made more. Especially after the conversation with Slughorn that Harry watched in the pensieve."

"The pensieve," Harry said. "That's what I wanted to do when I came down here. I wanted to see what memories are in it."

"In what," yawned Ron, who was just coming down the stairs looking like he'd just gotten out of bed.

"I was gonna see what memories Dumbledore has in his pensieve."

"Ok," said Ron. "Let's go."

Harry looked around him and saw his three companions watching him intently. "I thought I'd go alone…" He trailed off as their expressions changed to glares. "But that doesn't matter. I guess we'll all go in there together." They walked up to the pensieve, grabbed each other's hands, and disappeared into a memory.

-

Harry was happy to find that all the memories Dumbledore had shown him during the previous school year were there. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny watched in amazement as they relived the memory of the Gaunts being visited by Bob Ogden, resulting in both Marvolo and Morfin being arrested, leaving Merope free to bewitch Tom Riddle into marrying her. Ginny moved closer to Harry, squeezing his hand, when they caught a glimpse of Voldemort's father. The resemblance was amazing. They then saw Mr. Burke talking about how he swindled a pregnant Merope into selling Slytherin's locket for a very small price, earning a grunt of disgust from Harry's companions. At this Harry quoted Dumbledore. "Caractacus Burke was not famed for his generosity," causing the others to chuckle. They then watched the memory of Albus Dumbledore visiting the orphanage where Voldemort was born. Ron muttered something about how Dumbledore should've left Riddle there when he found out he'd already been terrorizing kids. When they got to the memory of teenage Tom visiting his uncle, Ginny put one arm around Harry and held him tight. Then they watched Tom, now wearing the ring his uncle had been wearing in the previous memory, talking to Slughorn about horcruxes. After that they watched his meeting with Hepzibah Smith, where he saw Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup, followed by Tom's request for Professor Dumbledore to hire him. Once that memory was over with, Harry expected them to leave the pensieve. He didn't expect to see another memory.

-

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	5. The Memory

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 5

The Memory

Harry looked around, certain he had seen this place before, or maybe dreamed it. They were inside a poorly lit old mansion that had probably been beautiful long ago. The door opened, and none other than Professor Snape, with his greasy black hair and black clothes, walked inside, stepping through Ron and Hermione. They followed him up a set of stairs. "Is this Riddle Mansion?" asked Hermione, who apparently remembered his dream from the summer before their fourth year.

"You're right, Hermione. I knew it was familiar."

"This is where Tom's father used to live?" asked Ginny, holding Harry's hand.

"Yes, and also where he and his parents were killed," responded Harry. He felt Ginny tremble slightly as they continued up the stairs in silence.

Professor Snape knocked on the door at the top of the stairs.

"Who dares disturb me?" came the voice that filled Harry's nightmares. Voldemort himself was on the other side of the door.

Snape knelt before the door with a bored expression. "It is I master, your humble servent Severus Snape. I am here to report." Harry got a perverse pleasure at seeing that slimy, traitorous git on his knees.

The door opened, and Voldemort's voice hissed, "Come in. What is the news of Hogwarts, Dumbledore, and Potter?"

"Master," said Snape, still on his knees. "Hogwarts is still well guarded. When the Headmaster leaves, which is always without prior notice, security is even tighter than usual. I believe he is beginning to suspect me. He is growing irritated by my lack of pertinent information. He wishes me to keep a closer eye on young Malfoy."

"Not altogether unexpected," hissed Riddle. "The boy is even more of a fool than his father. At least he pretended to be against me, to the point where Fudge considered the man a friend. This boy openly supports me and hates Dumbledore and Potter." Then a smile crossed his face. "Even if he somehow manages to survive his mission, I'll still kill him for his stupidity."

Snape nodded and sneered. "Yes master."

"What news of Potter?"

Snape smiled. "He appears to have found love in the youngest child of a blood-traitor family. Her name is Ginevra Weasley."

Harry put an arm protectively around his girlfriend at this point muttering, "I'll kill that…"

"Quiet Harry!" whispered Hermione.

"Oh yes," sneered Voldemort, "The Weasleys have been a thorn in my side for too long. Isn't that the girl that Potter rescued from the Chamber of Secrets?"

Snape nodded, "The same."

"This isn't good, Snape. They may have bonded at that time. Do what you can to keep them apart until I find the opportunity to deal with her personally."

"Bonded?" said both Harry and Ginny, looking at each other.

Snape sneered, "That shouldn't be too difficult to do, since I have Potter in detention for almost all his free time since he used my spell on young Malfoy."

"Oh yes. Have you been able to locate your old potions book yet?"

"Not yet, but I believe the fool isn't using it anymore. Professor Slughorn mentioned something about his grades slipping since he started dating Miss Weasley. Hopefully he hasn't read the whole thing yet."

"You were a fool to leave it lying around, and I should crucio you again for it, but I won't this time because of the valuable information you've given me."

"Thank you my Lord."

"I have one more question, Snape. It's about the elaborately carved mantelpiece above the fireplace in the Slytherin common room. It is still there and in tact, isn't it?"

"Of course, my lord. Why do you ask," said Snape, looking confused.

"That Snape, is none of your concern," hissed the Dark Lord. "What is your concern is to make sure that no one ever disturbs it."

"Of course, my lord," said Snape, bowing his head. "I apologize for asking."

"Get out of my sight and get more information."

"Yes, master." Snape got up and started walking toward the door when Harry and company found themselves pulled out of the pensieve.

"Wow," they all said in unison.

"We need to stay longer," said Harry.

"Ron, Ginny, could one of you write you your mum and ask if we can stay one more overnight because it's taking longer than we'd hoped to retrieve everything Dumbledore left us?" asked Hermione. "You can use a school owl."

-

Minutes later, Hermione and Harry were speaking to Ms. McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore's portrait.

"Harry said, "We have reason to believe that something important is hidden in the Slytherin common room, and would like your permission, along with the password, to check it out."

Dumbledore's portrait nodded his head while McGonagall looked surprised. "Why there? Why do you suspect that all of the sudden?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he said, "Minerva, I believe they have discovered information in my pensieve that has led them to that conclusion. Am I correct?"

"Yes sir," both Harry and Hermione said.

"Do you agree with their request, Albus?" asked McGonagall, surprised.

"I do indeed. However, I am no longer headmaster here."

"Very well, the password is 'serpent.' I'll show you the way when you're ready to leave."

Although Harry already knew where Slytherin Dungeon was, he didn't want to explain how he found out to McGonagall, so he stayed silent.

"We'll have to wait until Ron and Ginny get back from the owlry, which should be momentarily. In the meantime, that is if you don't mind Ms. McGonagall, we'd like to discus something with Professor Dumbledore."

She appeared a little put out, but when she saw the portrait nod his head, she muttered, "Very well," and walked out of the room. Hermione immediately sealed it magically.

"I hope we haven't offended her," said Hermione with a concerned look on her face.

"I'm afraid Minerva is not used to being, how do the muggles put it, out of the loop," said Dumbledore. "I assume you wish to speak with me about that memory."

"Yeah," said Harry. "I don't understand!" He took a deep breath. "He told Voldemort about Ginny, which proves to me he's a traitor, but he also gave you that memory. Then he killed you!"

Albus chuckled, "I must admit those actions do contradict each other."

"I don't think it's funny, sir," said Hermione, looking aggravated.

"My question is," said Harry, "is he a traitor to you or Voldemort or both? Who's side is he on?"

"I believe you have just gotten to the heart of the matter, my boy!" said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "He is not on anybody's side but his own! I was fooled because he proved to me that he was against Voldemort. Because of this, I assumed he was on my side. That was my mistake."

"I was wondering if, if his killing you was part of your plan, sir," said Hermione sheepishly.

"I knew of his unbreakable vow, but my death was never part of the plan. The plan was to persuade young Mr. Malfoy to join us, and then protect his family. That would have fulfilled at least part of Professor Snape's vow of protecting Draco. The part about finishing the job himself could have been postponed indefinitely."

"I see, sir," said Hermione.

"Then he is a traitor!" said Harry.

"Of course he is," said Dumbledore. "He used an unforgivable curse on me. In order to successfully do that, one must truly hate the victim and have no pity whatsoever. You found that out when you tried to crucio Bellatrix at the ministry." Hermione glanced at Harry quickly. He'd never told her that. "Since you weren't completely full of hatred, as she is, it didn't work. Likewise, if Professor Snape were not full of hatred for me, he would have been unable to successfully use the killing curse. Unforgivables require a lot more than pointing a wand and saying an incantation. That's why the Ministry of Magic believes that once you have proven that you are capable of using one of those curses, you are beyond redemption. That's why they carry a life sentence in Azkaban."

Hermione appeared to be absorbing this new information. Harry simply said, "So Snape is a wildcard? We don't know who's side he'll take at any given time!"

"Except for one thing," said Dumbledore, with a twinkle in his eye. "When I learned of his unbreakable vow to Mrs. Malfoy, I made him take another unbreakable vow to me."

"Another one?" asked Harry.

"What was it?" asked Hermione.

"That he will not harm you, Harry, and that he will defend you against Voldemort with his life. I'm afraid I didn't have the foresight to include your friends in the vow." The portrait of Albus Dumbledore lowered its head in shame. "This is yet another time I have failed you, Harry. I hope one day you will forgive me for ignoring your suspicions about Professor Snape. I have been arrogant. I thought that if I trusted someone, anybody who didn't was mad. You were right to question me. I'm sorry."

"Professor," pleaded Harry. "I'm not angry with you. I'm angry with Snape, Voldemort, and the Death Eaters."

"Harry," said Hermione. "I also need to apologize for ever doubting you…"

"I'm not mad at you either Hermione. You have never tried to do anything but help me. I don't often say this, but I really do appreciate everything you've done for me. You're the best friend anyone could ever ask for, and the closest thing to a sister I'll ever have." She threw her arms around him in an embrace that he returned while Dumbledore's portrait watched with shining eyes.

"That," said Dumbledore when Harry and Hermione came apart, "is what Voldemort will never know. The love of friendship that you share with Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley, to name a few. That, and the bond of love you share with Miss Weasley are things that Tom will never understand."

"That reminds me, sir," said Harry, "Voldemort mentioned a bond between Ginny and me."

"That," said Dumbledore, "is something I'd prefer to discus with Miss Weasley and yourself privately. No offence, Miss Granger."

"None taken."

-

A few minutes later, when Harry and Hermione left the office, they found Ron, Ginny, and Ms. McGonagall waiting for them, so they proceeded to the Slytherin dorm. The entrance was a bare, damp stone wall. Ms. McGonagall said the password and the stone door concealed in the wall opened to reveal their common room. She then left them to their task, wishing them luck finding whatever it was they were looking for.

Hermione and Ginny looked around at long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. They'd never seen it before. Harry and Ron, who'd been there in their second year, headed directly to the fireplace, which wasn't lit. Above it was the elaborately carved mantelpiece that they noticed had a snake's face in the center. After Harry pointed it out and suggested he speak parseltongue to see what happened, Hermione insisted he put on the safety gear, which she'd made Ron carry, first. After he reluctantly put the 'armor' on, he had everyone else step away. He hissed, "Open" to the mantelpiece, and it started to move.

-

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	6. The Bond

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 6

The Bond

As the mantelpiece opened, a greenish vapor began to seep out of the opening, concealing whatever was inside, and filling Harry's lungs. He began to feel repulsed by the scent, light-headed due to the lack of oxygen, and nauseous at the same time. He then found his eyelids becoming heavy, and started to close them. The last thing the heard before falling to the floor was Hermione's voice saying something.

-

Hermione put her wand back into her holster after clearing the air while Ginny rushed to her fallen boyfriend. Tears were already falling down her cheeks. She pulled off his helmet, revealing that Harry's complexion was turning more and more pale as panic began to consume the redhead. Ron was no better off than Ginny, but Hermione rushed to Harry's body, gently moving Ginny out of the way. After seeing that he wasn't breathing, she immediately began performing mouth to mouth resuscitation on her best friend. The Weasley siblings watched in confusion as Hermione put her lips on Harry's. After about ten seconds which seemed like an eternity, Harry began to cough as his eyes opened. Hermione stepped back and Ginny immediately rushed forward and hugged him.

Ron asked, "Hermione, why were you kissing Harry?"

"Honestly Ronald," sighed Hermione, "I wasn't kissing him, I was giving him mouth to mouth resuscitation on him!"

"What?" asked both Ginny and Ron together.

"It's part of muggle emergency medical care. If someone can't breathe for themselves, you breathe into them before it's too late. Surely the wizarding world has an equivalent."

"No, we don't," said Ginny, still crying. "If someone stops breathing, they're dead. If you hadn't been here…"

"But I was here. The important thing though is Harry," she said, turning back to him. "How do you feel?"

"Ill. And sleepy. I should probably get up." He then pushed his upper body up with his arms, but found he had another problem. "I CAN'T MOVE MY LEGS!"

"Can you feel them?" asked Hermione, with a terrified expression on her face.

"Yes, they just hurt! Can you pull of my shoes? They're killing me!" he said as he passed out.

After making sure he was still breathing and checking his weak pulse, Hermione pulled off his right shoe and sock, while Ginny did the same for his left. They both revealed his bare feet at the same time and let out a gasp together. His feet and ankles were dark green.

"This is some kind of poison!" screamed Hermione. "We've got to see how far it's spread! Help me pull off his pants!"

"You can't do that!" shouted Ron. "You're girls!"

Ginny screamed, "We don't have time for this, Ron," as she and Hermione unfastened Harry's pants and pulled them down, revealing Harry's boxer shorts, along with the fact that the poison had already spread past his knees and was moving fast up toward his thighs.

Hermione tried a few spells to no affect and cried, "We don't know what that poison is, and he'll die before we find out!"

Ginny screamed, "NO! He can't die! I won't let him!" as she pulled him into a tight embrace, tears streaming down her face.

Both Ron and Hermione's jaws dropped as they saw a faint white glow envelop Ginny's body, and then move into Harry's from her arms that were embracing him. The glow spread both upward into his face, and down his torso into his legs. As the glow reached the poison, it seemed to recede back down Harry's legs to his feet, and eventually disappear.

Ginny momentarily collapsed onto Harry, as he woke up with a start, saying, "What happened?"

Ginny stuck her smiling face up toward her boyfriend. "You, you're awake! Thank God! I thought you were dead!"

"Ginny?" asked Hermione. "Do you know what just happened?"

"Er, Harry woke up?" asked Ginny, unsure what Hermione meant.

"Something strange happened, to both of you. You were glowing," said Hermione while Ron nodded in agreement.

"What do you mean, glowing?" asked Harry.

After Ron and Hermione did their best to describe what they saw, Hermione said, "I'll bet this has something to do with your bond."

"You mean what Tom mentioned to Snape?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah," said Harry. "I asked Dumbledore's portrait about it, and he said he'd like to talk to both of us about it."

"All right," said Ginny.

"In the mean time," said Harry. "After I put my pants back on, I'd like to find out what I was almost killed for."

They both were struggling to get off the floor, so Ron helped Harry and Hermione helped Ginny, eventually setting them down on the couch.

Ron said, "Harry, give me your safety equipment. I'm gonna find out what's in that compartment."

"You should also use the bubblehead charm so you don't breath any poison," said Hermione.

"That reminds me," said Harry. "Why didn't anyone put a bezoar in my throat?"

"Because they're for poisons that have been ingested, not inhaled," said Hermione.

After Ron had put on the 'safety suit,' he and Hermione returned to the open secret compartment, and saw a cup that they immediately recognized from the pensieve as Hufflepuff's. Hermione walked up to it and performed the spell she'd learned the day before, eventually telling everyone, "It definitely has a horcrux. Riddle must have snuck it in here the day he asked Dumbledore for a job. Sneaking into this room wouldn't have been much of a problem for him once he'd been allowed into the castle."

Ron then stepped up toward the cup while Hermione backed up. As he slowly moved his hand toward the cup, he could hear his girlfriend warn him to "Be careful."

As his hand went into the compartment and slowly inched toward the cup, his hand was feeling hotter and hotter. He was glad he was wearing the dragonhide gloves on. He knew if it weren't for them, his hand would be badly burned. As it was, his hand was getting irritated by the heat. As his hand touched the cup, it got a lot hotter. He screamed from the pain, quickly pushed the cup onto the floor, and pulled his hand out. Hermione ran to him and yanked off his glove, revealing that his right hand was slightly pink and burned. She performed a cooling spell on his hand, much to Ron's relief, and found that his hand only had minor burns. They also found that they needed a new pair of gloves. After careful experimentation, they found that the cup was no longer hot, now that it was outside of its hiding spot. They closed up the mantle piece and headed toward the hospital wing to have everyone besides Hermione examined.

Madam Pomfrey, who had decided to stay at the castle with most of the staff, treated Ron's burns easily, and said that as far as she could tell, Harry and Ginny were merely exhausted. She found no trace of any kind of poison in Harry. Because of the exhaustion however, she insisted on giving them both a weak sleeping potion. After they'd rested for a few hours, they both woke up to find Ron and Hermione sitting near their hospital beds, snogging.

"Hey guys," said Ginny, causing the couple to break apart quickly. "How about we go back to the common room and destroy that cup. They all agreed, so after they got into the common room, Harry put on his equipment, including a spare pair of dragonhide gloves, and a bubblehead charm, and stabbed the cup with a basilisk fang, achieving the same results as with the locket. After Hermione had confirmed the Horcrux destroyed, Harry and Ginny went to McGonagall's office to speak to Dumbledore's portrait.

"Hello, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger," said McGonagall, after she'd let them in her office.

"Hello," they both responded.

"Were you successful in your endeavor today? Madame Pomfrey informed me that there were minor injuries."

"Yes, we were successful. We found a secret compartment in the common room that was booby trapped, but we found what we were looking for," said Harry.

"Thank you for allowing us inside," said Ginny.

"You're welcome. I suppose you'll want to speak to Professor Dumbledore in private again?"

"Er, well, yes," said Harry. "I hope you don't feel, er…"

"I understand that in wartime there are secrets," said McGonagall. "I may feel a little put out sometimes, but I'm a big girl and can handle it," she said with a smirk as she walked outside. Harry put the charms on the door that Hermione had taught him.

"You were successful?" said Dumbledore's portrait. They both nodded. "I take it then that another horcrux has been destroyed."

"Yes sir," said Ginny.

"It was Hufflepuff's cup," added Harry.

"Well done," said Dumbledore. "Now there are only two left to find, and we're not sure what they are."

"I thought you said that Nagini was one," said Harry.

"No, I did not say that," said Dumbledore. "I suspect it. I believe it would be prudent to make sure that Tom's snake really is a horcrux before facing him. Perhaps if you find out where his headquarters are, you should find out if Nagini freely wanders around the area. Though for now I believe you should be investigating the possible hiding places for them."

"I was also wondering sir," said Harry. "Do you think my scar could be a horcrux?"

Dumbledore looked appraisingly at Harry. "I've thought about that myself, and certainly think that it couldn't hurt to have Miss Granger test you, but I doubt it. In order to create a horcrux, you have to be doing it on purpose. I believe that what happened to you was entirely an accident, which resulted from his attempt to kill you. Also, the fact that he tried to kill you leads me to believe that he didn't put a horcrux inside you."

"No one was there to see that he'd performed the killing curse on me. What if he'd made me a horcrux and it caused him to be weakened?"

"Like I said, Harry," answered Dumbledore. "It won't hurt to be tested, but I will be surprised if it is one." He then looked at both Harry and Ginny. "I take it you've come here together to discuss your bond."

"Sir," said Ginny. "I think that before you begin, we should tell you something that happened while we were retrieving Hufflepuff's cup."

"Oh," said Dumbledore, "What happened?"

They then told the portrait about how Harry had been poisoned and Ginny had been able to somehow heal him."

"That is indeed very interesting!" said the portrait. "Miss Weasley, can you remember exactly what you were thinking the moment you embraced Harry?"

"Er," she said, beginning to blush. "Well sir, I was, er, thinking about how much I love Harry, and refused to let anything, even death, take him from me." Harry squeezed her hand.

"As I suspected," said Dumbledore, with a twinkle in his eyes. "When Harry saved your life, in the Chamber of Secrets, a life-bond was forged between the two of you. When you fell in love, that bond was strengthened. Today, when Harry was dying, you claimed him, and because of your bond, your claim was stronger than the poison's claim. I suspect that Harry could do the same thing for you, but let us hope he doesn't get the chance any time soon."

"Let's hope," smirked Ginny.

"Professor," said Harry. "Does that mean that we can't die? That we're immortal."

"No, you're not immortal. First of all, you would have to rescue the other before death occurred. As you know, there are many ways to die instantly, with no time for healing. I myself was killed using such a method. Secondly, we do not know the limitations of your healing abilities, and there is no safe way to test them. Contrary to popular opinion, this is actually a rare bond. It is very seldom that someone actually falls in love with their rescuer. Infatuation occurs often enough as a result of the experience, but usually nothing more. And even then, it is rare for the couple to have the opportunity to heal one another. I suggest that you act just as cautious as you would if you were unaware of your bond, but stick together just in case one of you is needed to heal the other."

"That actually makes sense," said Ginny. "The crush I had on Harry had to disappear before I could spend time with him so we could get to know one another. That had to happen before he developed any feelings for me, and before I could love the person that he truly is."

"I believe that we should conclude our meeting for now," said Dumbledore's portrait. "If I'm not mistaken, both Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger are anxiously waiting for an explanation of what happened."

"Either that or snogging each other's face off in the common room," said Ginny.

-

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	7. Riddle

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 7

Riddle's Essay

As it turned out, Ginny was right about Ron and Hermione snogging in the Gryffindor common room. They quickly broke apart, both blushing furiously, when Harry and Ginny showed up.

Ginny smirked and said, "I see you're both practicing mouth to mouth resuscitation."

Harry smiled. "Working hard at it, too. I guess practice makes perfect." He and Ginny laughed, while Ron and Hermione's cheeks got even redder.

"So, did Dumbledore's portrait explain what happened to you two?" asked Hermione, obviously trying to change the subject.

"Yeah," said Ginny. "Basically, when Harry saved my life in the Chamber of Secrets, we formed a life bond, and then when we fell in love, it strengthened. Our case is kind of rare, so no one knows the full extent of its benefits. One thing we do know is that we can heal each other."

"Wow." said Hermione while Ron just stared at them. "I've read about those types of bonds of course, but I never expected to see one. This is close to immortality, but not quite. I do hope you two don't start taking unnecessary risks because of this."

Harry added, "Dumbledore warned us that we should still be careful and not get reckless but that we should stick together, especially on dangerous tasks like our mission."

"I wonder if it's part of why your boggart of me said I was your strength," said Ginny thoughtfully.

"I wonder if this bond of love is part of my 'power the git knows not.'

"I'm sure Tom never saved anybody's life, and he certainly doesn't love anyone!" said Ginny.

"Anyway," said Harry, "We've got one more piece of business to attend to, and then we need to leave."

Ginny's face fell, "Searching the chamber again."

Harry held her hand. "You don't have to come along. It's probably a wasted trip anyway."

"No, I'll go," she said resolutely.

Harry then looked at his other friends. "I'll want you down with us as well. Hermione, Ron, you've never seen the chamber, so you might notice something we never did."

-

Within thirty minutes, the four of them found themselves carrying school brooms into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The ghost looked sadly at them and said, "Oh, it's you."

"Hello Myrtle," said Harry.

"You look lovely today," said Hermione.

"I can't believe that that nice boy Tom was responsible for my death. All this time I've wondered how I died. One doesn't just drop dead when one is perfectly healthy. But nobody ever bothered to tell ugly, miserable moaning Myrtle. Why would she ever care to know how she died? You're all just glad that I did die …" Harry interrupted her rant by hissing at the sink, revealing the entrance to the chamber. They all jumped down the hole.

Hermione was immediately grossed out by how filthy it was down there. "Ew! Look at all this mud!"

"Wait 'til you see the rat skeletons on the floor," said Ginny, half smiling.

"Let's mount our brooms and get this over with," said Harry. Harry kept a running commentary on what had happened there for Hermione's benefit. When they arrived in the chamber, they dismounted and Harry took Ginny's hand while Hermione and Ron were looking around.

"Harry," asked Ron. "Where does this hole lead?"

"That's where the basilisk came from. I never went in there."

"Maybe we should check it out," suggested Ron.

They took a few steps into the passage only to find that it twisted up and over in such a way that it would be extremely difficult for anything but a snake to get through, and then decided to mount their brooms. Harry took the lead, wishing he'd had his firebolt instead of the old school broom he was riding. They kept following the passage silently with their wands lit until about ten minutes after they entered the passage, when they came to a point that the tunnel went straight up. Harry turned to Hermione. "I doubt very much Voldemort hid anything here."

"Probably not Harry, but we've got to keep going." After they got out of the tunnel, they found a large square room with no other exit. Rat bones were completely covering the floor, except for a small elevated platform in the middle of the room where a small wooden table with something on it stood with a chair.

"Tom never told me about this," said Ginny weakly.

They all flew to the spot, but didn't dismount their brooms. When they were close enough to the table, they saw an old muggle tablet on the desk with a plastic cup holding muggle pens. Harry said, "Hermione, I seriously doubt that any of this is a horcrux, but test it just in case. Then let's grab the stuff off the table."

Hermione tested it and said, "Nope, no horcruxes. I wonder if there are any clues in the tablet."

"I'm sure that's why Harry wants to bring it with us," said Ginny sarcastically, earning a quick glare from Hermione. They grabbed the stuff and flew out of there, and checked the rest of the chamber for any hidden passages, to no avail, so they left. When they got to the bathroom, they were happy to see that Myrtle was nowhere to be seen, so they left after Hermione scourgified all of them. They went to the common room to look at Riddle's notebook more closely. Ginny seemed very apprehensive about it. She said, "I know it's not a horcrux like the diary, but be careful. Hermione, can you check it for other curses or anything?"

"Of course, Ginny." After she'd performed several spells on the tablet, pens, and cup, she declared, "This stuff is exactly what it appears to be."

They read the first page of the tablet. It appeared to be a cover sheet for an essay. It said, "My Fondest Memories, by Tom Marvolo Riddle." All their eyes widened at that concept, and they turned to the next page, beginning to read accounts of how Tom had terrorized kids at the orphanage and other places. Each incident had the date and location written down with the description. It was very organized.

After reading a few pages, Harry said, "Turn to the back. I want to see when it ended." Hermione, who was holding the book while they read over her shoulder, complied. The last page was the account of murdering the Riddle family and framing his uncle Morfin for it. "We should definitely read this. It may help us determine the most likely places where horcruxes are hidden. But I think we can leave Hogwarts now and take this with us."

With Hermione's help, they had everything, including the pensieve, packed into a bag that she'd charmed to be much larger on the inside than the outside, in just a few minutes. They then walked straight to the Headmaster's office to floo back to the Burrow. They met Ms. McGonagall there, and she had a concerned expression on her face.

"Leaving so soon?" she asked.

"Yes," said Harry. "Thank you for allowing us to stay here."

"Of course," she said, "Even though the school isn't open, you four are always welcome here."

"Thank you," said Hermione.

McGonagall sighed, "Judging from whatever happened earlier today in the Slytherin common room, I'd wager that whatever Professor Dumbledore has you doing isn't exactly safe."

Harry frowned, "No, it's not."

"Please do be careful."

"We'll do our best," said Ginny.

"I know," McGonagall said. "Before you go, Mr. Potter, there is something else I need to discuss with you."

"What's that?" asked Harry, curious.

"Number twelve Grimmauld Place."

"I told Dumbledore a year ago that the Order can continue to use it."

"I know, but the Fidelius Charm has worn off since its secret-keeper, Professor Dumbledore, died."

Hermione gasped. "Do you mean it's been visible all this time?"

"Yes, so the Order stopped using it. That's probably why that petty thief went there." She huffed. "Anyway, the Order would appreciate it if you'd assign another secret-keeper so that we can reinstate the Fidelius Charm."

Harry looked thoughtful for a minute. "It's not that I don't trust anyone, but after what happened to my parents with Peter Pettigrew, I truthfully can't imagine letting anyone else besides myself being secret-keeper for my house."

She nodded, "I suppose that's fair, but you'll have to be available to let others know where the house is."

"How about I write the address on a sheet of paper, and you hide it somewhere? When you get a new member, you take the paper out of the house and show it to them, then hide it again. You can tell everyone you burned it."

"I suppose that would be acceptable," she said. "When do you want to perform the spell?"

"As soon as possible," said Harry.

"Then tomorrow morning," McGonagall stated clearly. "I can perform the spell, but I'll need one volunteer to help. Miss Granger, you just volunteered."

"Er, sure, I guess so," said a shocked Hermione.

"Mr. and Miss Weasley, you may go home and tell your mother that I need Mr. Potter and Miss Granger for help with something here and that they won't be back at the Burrow until tomorrow around dinnertime. Do not tell her what we're doing! I don't want anybody else to know that Harry is the secret-keeper." Then she smiled slightly. "I want to give them the impression that I am."

After Harry and Hermione kissed their respective 'loves' goodbye, Harry and Hermione went back to the common room, being warned to be prepared to leave very early. They sat down and began reading. Harry was reading the book on horcruxes that Hermione had already finished while Hermione was reading Riddle's tablet. After about a half hour of silence, Hermione let out a frustrated groan. "Harry, this tablet hasn't simplified the search; it's given more possible locations! And unless you can get Riddle to tell you where it's at, we're going to have to just pick place after place and search them all."

"That might take forever!" said Harry. "I say we start the search the day after tomorrow at the places mentioned in the tablet but not in Dumbledore's notes. I think he'd try to hide them in places no one else knew about that were related to his youth."

She sighed. "All right, but that still leaves five locations."

-

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	8. The Secret Keeper

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 8

The Secret-Keeper

The next morning found Harry and Hermione knocking on the door to Dumbledore's old office. They had all their stuff with them since they intended to go straight to the Burrow from Twelve Grimmauld Place. "Come in," they heard Ms. McGonagall say from inside.

Hermione opened the door and said, "Good morning," while Harry yawned.

"Yeah, good morning Prof, I mean, Ms. McGonagall."

"Good morning, both of you," she replied. "Now we've got a lot of work to do, so we should be off." She then motioned toward the fireplace. "After you."

"Er," said Harry, "I hate to say it, but could we have five minutes to talk with Professor Dumbledore?"

She looked a bit irritated, but complied. "Alone, I suppose."

"If you don't mind, Ms. McGonagall," said Hermione.

After she'd left the office and Hermione had performed the correct charms, Professor Dumbledore's portrait smiled at them. "So what can I help you with?"

"Yesterday," said Harry. "We found a secret passage in the Chamber of Secrets. It lead us to a room that had a desk that contained an essay written by Riddle."

Dumbledore perked up, "An essay? What was it about? I don't suppose it gave all the locations of his horcruxes."

"No sir," said Hermione. "But it told about his favorite experiences of his childhood, from tormenting kids in his orphanage to murdering his father. It mentions the cave you and Harry visited, as well as his uncle's home where you found the ring. We thought perhaps..."

"...Perhaps it may mention the location of the remaining horcrux or horcruxes if Nagini isn't one of them. I trust Miss Granger has tested your scar."

"His scar?" said a puzzled Hermione. "No, but now that you mention it, I suppose that would be a good idea."

"Harry brought that possibility up a few days ago," said the painting.

"Why didn't you mention it sooner?" said Hermione.

"It was right before we'd talked about my bond. After we found out about that, it sort of slipped my mind."

She sighed, "Well, at least I can check it now." She then proceeded to run the test on Harry's scar, and when she was finished, she smiled. "Nope, your scar is definitely not a horcrux."

"Well, that's a relief," said Harry. "Having to destroy my head before the final battle might inhibit my ability to win."

"That's nothing to joke about," said Hermione. "Anyway Professor, we've decided to first check the places mentioned in the essay that aren't in your notes."

"Very clever, Miss Granger. I'm sure Tom would try to use places that no one knows about. How many places does that leave you?"

"Five sir, and actually that was Harry's idea," said Hermione.

"She'd have thought of it eventually," said Harry.

"I'm sure you would have, Miss Granger. I see you have a lot of work ahead of you. Do keep me informed."

"Of course," said Harry.

"Do you have any other questions?" asked Dumbledore.

"No," said both Harry and Hermione together.

"Then I do believe we've kept Minerva waiting long enough.

A few minutes later, Harry, Hermione, and McGonagall found themselves inside Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. McGonagall turned to the two teenagers. "I'll begin the spell outside while there aren't many people outside. It should take about thirty minutes. During that time Miss Granger, I want you to memorize this spell, while Mr. Potter memorizes this one." She handed them each a piece of parchment. "When I come back inside, I expect you to be ready."

"Yes ma'am," said Harry while Hermione nodded. Harry looked down at his parchment, and found that he as secret-keeper had very little to learn, just one sentence. After he'd memorized that, he took a glance at Hermione's three feet of spell work, and decided not to distract her.

When McGonagall came back inside, she asked, "Are you ready?" Both Harry and Hermione nodded their heads. Hermione and McGonagall performed a complex spell together with McGonagall's wand pointed at the door, and then at the walls as they slowly walked around the inside of the house. Hermione's wand was always pointed at him, while she was pretty much repeating the Latin phrases that McGonagall said, except he noticed a few variations. When they'd gone over the entire house, it was time for Harry to say his one line to complete the spell. After he'd said it, and the walls as well as his body glowed orange for a few seconds, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now Mr. Potter, if you please, write down the address of the house." She then pulled out a blank piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink, then handed it to Harry.

He wrote, "The headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix is Number Twelve Grimmauld Place." When he was finished, he handed the parchment and supplies back to McGonagall, and she neatly rolled up the parchment and stuck it everything in her purse.

"In a few days, I shall begin showing this note to the members. I don't want even the Weasleys to realize that I've kept you here today to become the secret-keeper. I'll be going now. Good day, both of you."

"Bye," they both said as their former professor flooed back to Hogwarts.

"Hermione, do you know what we haven't done yet that I said I wanted to do?"

Hermione smiled. "Of course Harry, visit Godric's Hollow. We were going to visit that place first, but after we found the locket, we've been distracted from it." Then she looked in his eyes. "I can understand you wanting to visit there to see where your parents lived and, er, died, and we'll all go with you if you're determined to go there, but I honestly don't feel that it's part of our mission."

Harry nodded his head. "I think you're right, Hermione. As long as we have leads on where another horcrux is, and people are dying every day, I shouldn't waste our time chasing ghosts. When this war is over I can go there, if I'm still alive."

"Don't talk that way, Harry! You're going to win! Although we seem to have stopped practicing defensive magic since we left my house for the wedding."

"You're right Hermione. We do need to get back to practicing, and I'd like to add exercise to our practice, so that we can outrun the Death Eaters, as well as fight them. I'd practice at the Burrow, but Mrs. Weasley would probably send me to Azkaban cause I'm a few weeks short of my birthday. I just wish Ginny could practice her magic too. I only want her to perform magic if she has to defend herself, but I want her to be prepared to do so."

Hermione said, "I never told you before, because there wasn't a good reason, but magic performed in a house under the Fidelius Charm can't be detected."

"What?" Harry almost shouted. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

She smiled to herself. "It would have only made you do things the lazy way, like Fred and George, apparating practically every two feet. Honestly, they can't even walk down a set of stairs."

"Fine, then Ginny and I can practice here."

"I think Ron and I should be with to make sure you're practicing magic and not other things."

Harry blushed. "Anyway, I think we should all get firebolts so that if we need brooms again we don't have to use cheap ones."

"But they're so expensive," said Hermione.

"When you're trying to escape Death Eaters, Reanimated corpses, and Voldemort knows what else, you want to be on the fastest broom in the world! This isn't about quidditch performance; this is about our lives!"

"You're right, Harry," she said, "But I think we should get those now without Ron and Ginny. They, Ron especially, can get funny about money sometimes."

"Yeah, and we'll give them to them here where Mrs. Weasley won't accidentally find out."

"If we go to Diagon Alley now, I think we'll have time to pick them up before dinner."

-

Please review.


	9. Preparing for Battle

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 9

Preparing for Battle

Later that night, Harry and Hermione flooed into the Burrow with their luggage to be greeted affectionately by Ginny and Ron, respectively. Before their hugs turned into full-blown snogs, they heard Mrs. Weasley clear her throat.

"Hello dears! I hope your business at Hogwarts is settled."

"Er, yes it is," said Harry, exchanging a glance with Hermione. "But tomorrow I would like to visit my house for a while with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny."

"Your house?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"You know, the house Sirius left me that I so kindly allow the Order of the Phoenix to use as headquarters."

"Oh," said Mrs. Weasley, looking a bit confused. "I almost forgot about that house. Where is it located again?"

Hermione chuckled a bit. "Ms. McGonagall said something about having put it back under the Fidelius Charm with a new secret-keeper. She told us its location, but we can't tell you. She did give us a sheet of paper with the address on it so we could show you all, but it's in our luggage."

Harry played along, "Er, yeah. We'll go upstairs and unpack, and then we'll show you the note."

"Well, I think that can wait until after dinner," said Mrs. Weasley, "Just bring your luggage to your rooms."

As Harry and Hermione got halfway up the stairs, Ginny elbowed Ron. "Ouch," he exclaimed, "What was that for?"

"For being such a git that you let your girlfriend carry her own bag up the stairs while you were just standing around watching."

"Hermione can handle it," said Ron indignantly.

Ginny sighed, "I should have known better than to expect you to be a gentleman."

In the meantime, Harry and Hermione had just put their luggage in the appropriate rooms and were on the way back. Harry whispered, "That was quick thinking about that note. I thought she was gonna find out I'm secret-keeper."

"You should write a note just after dinner and show it to all the Weasleys. Then claim McGonagall instructed you to destroy the note."

-

They did just that, and early the next morning the quartet of teenagers found themselves flooing into Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

"Ok we're here," said Ron, yawning. "Why is it that you wanted us to come here this early?"

"For a few reasons. One of which is that we all need to train magically and physically," said Hermione.

"Harry," said Ginny, "We can't use magic. I know your birthday's soon, but mine won't be for a year."

"We just found out that underage magic isn't detected in this house," said Harry, trying to hide the fact that Hermione always knew it. "You shouldn't use magic outside the house unless you have to defend yourself, but I want us to practice here so that you're ready to do just that."

"Ok," said Ron.

"Why isn't underage magic detected here?" asked Ginny.

Hermione went a bit pink. "Er, because of the Fidelius Charm."

"I thought you'd read all about that years ago," asked Ginny.

Hermione went a bit pinker, "Er, yeah..."

"Then how come you didn't tell us before?" asked Ron, looking upset. "Especially when we were cleaning..."

"Because there wasn't a real need..." yelled Hermione.

Harry, seeing that a fight was about to break out, said, "Now for the other reason we wanted to here." He pointed his wand toward the stairs and said, "Accio firebolts." Both Ron and Ginny's jaws dropped as four firebolts flew toward Harry.

"We decided that since it's a definite possibility that we may end up fleeing for our lives on a broomstick, we should all have the fastest there is."

Ginny's arms went straight around Harry's neck and she kissed him deeply, murmuring "Thank you," when they'd separate for air.

"Wait just a minute," said Ron. "We can't accept this! Our brooms are good enough! I know they're not fancy like your expensive firebolt, but they get the job done! We've both done well with our own and don't need..."

"This is not about quidditch, Ronald, or your pride!" said Hermione indignantly. "This is about your life! If we're going to face Voldemort knows what, we want to be able to escape as quickly as possible! Voldemort and his followers know how to set up wards we can't apparate through! Do you want Harry to die because he had to wait for your cleansweep to catch up to his firebolt?"

"Well, no, but..." said Ron while Ginny stifled a laugh at the way Hermione could calm her brother down.

"Do you want to be a liability to our mission simply because you refused to accept proper equipment?"

"No Mione, but..."

"No buts, Ronald! Now, we'll also have to practice riding them. Well, everyone but Harry," said Hermione. "This is the one thing I'll need more practice with than anyone else."

"First, however, I'd like to start with some physical exercise," said Harry.

Hermione transfigured all their clothes to appropriate exercise outfits, they began a workout that Hermione had improvised the day before. After an excruciating hour that consisted of running up and down the stairs, doing push ups, sit ups, and several other forms of torture, the group was exhausted, panting, and drenched with sweat.

"I'll bet no Death Eater ever got this much exercise in their whole life," said Ron.

"Exactly," said Hermione, "This will give us the advantage. Now it's time for spellwork."

First Hermione reviewed what the trio had practiced before Bill's wedding, mainly for Ginny's benefit, although more practice never hurt anybody. After an hour of review, they started practicing dueling, pairing off Ron against Harry and Hermione against Ginny. Hermione figured that the guys would've held back if they were dueling the girls. On the ground floor, Hermione was winning against Ginny, effectively blocking every curse she sent until the redhead used her famous bat-bogey hex on the brunette, which somehow got through her shield and grossed her out enough to get her to drop her guard, allowing Ginny to hit her with a stupify hex. At the same time on the upper levels, Ron and Harry were still in a stalemate, each escaping the other's hexes. They were hiding in different rooms having a regular battle, when Harry noticed Ron's wand stick outside one of the doors and got inspiration. He whispered, "Accio, Ron's wand," and the wand slipped out of Ron's hand and floated toward Harry.

Ron panicked and said, "What the?" while sticking his head out only to be stupified by his grinning opponent.

After both Harry and Ginny had revived their victims, the quartet discussed the duel, specifically how they had been won. Hermione said, "What lost me the duel was when Ginny's hex got through my shield. I think I was counting too much on my shield instead of dodging physically. The Death Eaters use a lot of spells that go through Protego shields, so we all need to make sure we move out of the way while putting up the shields at the same time, just in case we don't move fast enough. What happened to you Ron?"

"Well," said a slightly miffed Ron, "I stuck my wand outside a doorway, and Harry summoned it right out of my hand." Ginny laughed until her brother glared at her. "Then I guess I panicked because I stuck my head out of the doorway looking for my wand. The next thing I knew, Harry was reviving me."

"Well," said Hermione thoughtfully, "That gives us a few things to think about. The first is obviously not to panic. Hopefully these practice sessions will help us all with that. The next thing is what to do if we lose our wand. The best thing would be if we could learn some useful wandless magic."

"That's impossible!" said Ron.

"No it's not, Ron," said Ginny. "As little kids, all of us accidentally did some wandless magic."

"Exactly," said Hermione. "From what I've read, it's very rare to master magic without a wand to help focus it, but not impossible. I was hoping Harry could help us with that."

"Me?" asked Harry, looking as though he'd been Confunded, "Why me?"

"Because," said Hermione, looking like she was explaining that two plus two equals four to college graduates, "you have the most experience with it. What you did to your Aunt Marge a few years ago, although illegal, was actually an impressive bit of wandless magic. I was hoping we could figure out exactly how you did it, and try to duplicate it."

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I'll try, but honestly I don't know how I did it. I was mad and wanted her to go away."

"So, like all accidental magic I've heard of, it takes a strong emotional commitment – either fear, or, as in your case, anger."

"How does that help us?" asked Ron.

"I think that what happens is that those emotions focus us, and if we can learn that focus, we'll be able to do wandless magic. I'll try and find a book on ways to concentrate better. In the meantime, I think it wouldn't hurt if each of us took a few minutes to try concentrating on a simple spell without a wand. If I'm correct Harry, you weren't thinking of magic words, just results. Am I right?" Harry nodded. "When you practice, don't think of specific spells, just what you want to happen. Wait here." She then got up and went to the kitchen to retrieve four spoons. She set them on the floor, one near each of them. "I'd like each of us to put down our wands and concentrate on making the spoons float."

"You mean Wingardium Leviosa?" asked Ginny.

"Yes, but don't concentrate on those words, just on the spoon floating. Try to make yourself angry with the spoon if it's not doing what you want it to."

After about two minutes, Harry's spoon slowly started to move upward. Harry smiled and turned toward the others for a second to tell them, and his spoon fell, so he glared at the spoon, and it began to float again almost instantaneously. Shortly after that, Hermione's spoon began to slowly rise, followed by Ginny's. Ron's spoon was starting to turn around after another minute, but he yelled in frustration, "This is impossible! I don't know how you're doing it, but I can't!" He then got up and started storming up the stairs.

Hermione followed, "You're just not concentrating enough! Most students at Hogwarts couldn't even turn the spoon without a wand! You've only been trying it for ten minutes!"

"But you three could do it!" he said indignantly.

"We already knew Harry could do it, and I think you'd agree that I've always been a very focused person," she said calmly.

"Yeah, I suppose," said Ron. "But what about Ginny? She's a year younger than me and she did it!"

"I think I can probably explain that, Ron," said Ginny. "After my, my experience with Tom, I found that if I didn't focus on whatever I was doing, I'd start thinking about the chamber and cry. I had to learn how to focus on what I was doing, and I never stopped. I'm sure you noticed that my grades improved."

"We all sort of figured that your grades were lower your first year because you were going through, y'know, everything, and then when it was over, you recovered, and well, so did your grades."

"Oh yes," said Ginny sarcastically, "the Weasley plan for recovery from possession. Take the girl on a vacation to Egypt and never talk about the problem. That'll solve everything!"

"Anyway," said Hermione, hastily changing the subject, "Now it's time to practice something I'm not good at, flying."

They had just picked up their firebolts and were about to apparate onto the roof (Harry taking Ginny side-along) where Hermione assured them that no one would see them for thirty feet above the house. Suddenly the fireplace burned green and Mrs. Weasley came walking out. She looked at them and smiled. "There you are. I was just going to tell you it's lunchtime and...What are those? Where did you get those firebolts!"

While both Ginny and Ron's ears went pink, Harry spoke up, "Mrs. Weasley, I..."

"Don't tell me you bought them all? You're going to have to take them back! Ron and Ginny have perfectly good brooms to play quidditch on and I will not have you wasting you're money on that! Hermione, I'm surprised at you, letting him squander his gold like that. Ron, Ginny, how could you accept something that expensive..."

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry interrupted her for the first time in his life. "They didn't want to accept them at first, but this isn't about quidditch! This is about the fact that being close to me puts them in danger. They could literally end up trying to escape Death Eaters on a broomstick, and if that happens, I want them to be on the fastest broomstick there is! It could literally mean the difference between life and death, and I am not going to let your pride cause their deaths!"

Mrs. Weasley looked shocked that he stood up to her, but was listening to what he said. She sat down as he explained about the danger associated with him. "I, I wish that weren't true, Harry. I guess as someone who lives in a house with special protection, I can't deny the danger."

"We didn't tell you because we didn't want to alarm you, Mrs. Weasley, but Harry and I picked them up yesterday. We didn't tell Ron and Ginny until we got here today. We were just going to practice riding them above the roof so that we'd know what we were doing if danger came, especially me. I'm not all that good at flying. If you don't mind, I think it really would be easier to practice at the Burrow, now that you know about the brooms." Mrs. Weasley nodded sadly.

"We're also exercising and learning how to defend ourselves in case of an attack," said Ginny with her most angelic face, taking advantage of her mother's mood. "That's why we came here."

"But you and Harry are both underage," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Underage magic can't be detected in a house under the Fidelius Charm, so we've been practicing here," said Hermione. "Knowing how to defend ourselves could literally save our lives."

"So, what you're trying to say is that you want to come here every morning like you did today," Mrs. Weasley said. She took a deep breath. "I certainly can't stop Harry from going to his own house, and I can't stop Hermione from coming here. As much as I hate to admit it, you kids do end up in danger a lot, so being as prepared as possible is probably a good idea. I suppose it's alright for you to practice here. Just don't tell anyone else about it. As far as the three new brooms go, you can bring them to the Burrow now to practice, but don't let anyone else know you've got them. Ron, Ginny, you are not to use them to play quidditch with." Ron scowled. "Don't you give me that face young man! You may be seventeen but I'm still your mother."

"Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione, "I've just gotten an idea. Why don't we just disguise the brooms to look like a different kind? We could make Ron and Ginny's look like the brooms they've got, and I can make mine look like a Nimbus 2000."

"Well," said Mrs. Weasley, "I suppose so. It would surprise a Death Eater to see a cleansweep move as fast as a firebolt. Just don't improve so much in quidditch that your brothers start to suspect your brooms aren't what they appear to be."

After Hermione performed the charms on the appearance of the brooms, they went to the Burrow. After lunch, Ginny and Ron hid their old brooms, and then the four of them went out to the quidditch pitch and mounted their brooms. Obviously Harry was the best flier. Ron, who had previously ridden Harry's firebolt, didn't have much trouble learning to control his, and neither did Ginny. Hermione however, was six feet above the ground rocking back and forth on her broom. Her hands were gripping tightly to the handle, and she appeared very scared.

"Hermione," asked Harry as he flew near her, "what's wrong? I know it's a bit different, but you have ridden brooms before."

"It's," she said, slightly stuttering, "very sensitive. If I move in the slightest, it moves w-with me."

"Of course," said Harry, "That's the best thing about them. Firebolts almost seem like they're controlled by your thoughts. They respond to the smallest movement. Lean forward just a bit."

After about an hour of patient coaching from Harry, Ron, and Ginny, Hermione seemed to finally be at ease on the firebolt, so they could practice flying defensively, which means to avoid getting hit by spells. It can also include firing a few spells yourself. Since only Ron and Hermione were of age, they were the ones firing spells from behind the others. Harry and Ginny did very well, probably due to their positions on the quidditch team that require them to always avoid bludgers. This gave Harry the idea of having himself and Ginny hit bludgers at the other couple so that they'd have something to avoid. Ron did ok, although his position made him more used to catching the quaffle than avoiding a bludger. Hermione, however, didn't do so well, and got knocked off her broom more than once. Fortunately, Harry had insisted on playing only a few feet in the air because he was afraid of that happening.

-

As the week passed, they all got a bit better at everything they were practicing. At the end of the duels, the losers always explained how they'd lost so that everyone could learn from the mistakes. Ron managed to float a spoon and Hermione avoided being hit by a bludger on the third day of training. On the eighth day of training, when they finished practicing wandless magic (this time summoning their wands from across the room) Hermione said, "I believe I've worked out the location of the first place from Riddle's past we're going to investigate for another horcrux. If nobody has any objections, I think we should leave tomorrow after our practice. We'll tell Mrs. Weasley that we're going shopping."

-

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	10. The First Search

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 10**

**The First Search**

Early the following afternoon, the quartet returned to the Burrow after their training session. When they found her in the kitchen, Ginny said to Mrs. Weasley, "Mum, after lunch, we're going to do some shopping."

"Really," said the Weasley matriarch, "Where?"

"Diagon Alley," said Harry quickly.

Mrs. Weasley smiled brightly, "There's a few things I need to pick up, too. I'll go with you."

The quartet exchanged quick glances before Ginny put on her most innocent expression, forcing herself to blush. "We were, er, making it a double-date. We were going to make a day of it. We, er, were going to have dinner out, y'know. I don't think you'll be, er, comfortable with us."

Mrs. Weasley took a deep breath. "Oh, I suppose I could go tomorrow instead if I'm not wanted."

"Thanks mum," said Ron, causing his mother to frown, but she said nothing and continued making lunch.

The others prepared for the trip. Hermione and Ron went outside on the pretence of having a private snog to retrieve and shrink the brooms so they could fit in their pockets while Harry and Ginny packed everything else and waited patiently. In other words, they snogged until they heard Ron's voice say, "Oy! Don't you two ever stop?"

The couple separated and Ginny looked her brother and Hermione over. She then smirked and said, "And just what have you two been up to. I doubt it takes a half-hour to get four brooms out of a broom closet." Their ears turned pink. "You probably only stopped snogging when one of those nasty spiders landed on your faces." Ron's cheeks went completely red, matching his ears, while Hermione appeared to be holding back a giggle.

"Anyway," she said, pulling four tiny brooms out of her pockets, "Here they are. By the way, that was a brilliant story you told your mum."

"Yeah," said Ron. "I bloody thought that mum was gonna join us!"

After they'd packed everything, they went down to eat. After a quick lunch, each of them put on something with a shield charm. Hermione wore gloves, Harry wore a hat that covered his scar, Ginny wore necklace under her shirt, and Ron wore a vest. They loudly flooed to Diagon Alley, and then Hermione hailed down the Knight Bus with her wand.

Ernie was still driving the bus, but they were surprised to see that the beautiful Cho Chang was now the conductor, obviously taking Stan Shunpike's place. "Welcome to the Knight Bus Harry, Hermione, Ron, er, and little Ginny," Cho said, earning a glare from the redheaded girl. "Where are you headed?" she said to Harry, ignoring Ginny.

"Er," said Harry eloquently as he realized he didn't know exactly where they were headed. "Hermione, what is the address?"

"We're going to Number 18 Norman Drive…"

"Norman Drive?" asked Harry, as a surprised look came in his eyes, "As in two blocks from Privit Drive?"

"Yes," said Hermione with a smirk on her face."

The ride went as smoothly as can be expected on that bus. They only fell to the floor nine times during the trip. When it was over, they happily left the bus, and looked at the decrepit house before them. Harry commented, "I can imagine what Uncle Vernon would say about this house if he's seen it." The house had apparently been painted black decades before, but had since rotted. Harry didn't know if the roof would hold for them.

Hermione said, "No one but magical people can see the house now, otherwise it would have been condemned long ago. It used to be the residence of a muggle family that interviewed both Tom Riddle and another boy from his orphanage. The family chose to adopt the other boy. In Tom's essay, he wrote about coming here and torturing the parents into insanity in front of their adopted son, eventually putting him under the Imperious curse, forcing him to kill them with a knife and confess the crime to the police."

Ginny shuddered at that thought. "That sounds horrible, even for Tom!"

"He, er, wrote that he truly enjoyed it," said Hermione.

Harry sighed, "We're going to make him pay for every life he's ruined. Anyway, I guess we need to go in."

They walked up to the door, and Harry opened the old wooden door with a loud creak. He discreetly pulled out his wand, and the others did the same. Harry took a step inside the doorway, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny behind them. Harry noticed that it became extremely dark as soon as Ginny closed the door behind them. "Ok. Would our seventeen year olds light up their wands?" asked Harry sarcastically.

"Don't sound so jealous mate," said Ron. "Your birthday's in just a few days."

"We could have delayed until then if you wanted," said Hermione.

"How many people die every day in this bloody war?" asked Harry, sounding a bit frustrated. "We can't waste days while Voldemort is out there killing people!"

"All right, all right," said Ron. "Calm down."

Harry took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I just think that with Voldemort out there, the ministry should stop worrying about bloody underage magic and should concentrate on saving lives. But will one of you please light up this room? We're getting muggle flashlights before our next search."

After Hermione's wand lit up the room, Harry could see that this house was completely filthy. He was unable to stop himself from sneezing as breathed the dust. He saw webs everywhere. "Hermione, could you put a bubblehead charm on me so I can breathe?" She complied and then performed the charm on everyone.

"What's that?" said a concerned-looking Ron. He pointed at a huge shadow of what appeared to be a spider crawling toward them.

"What's it look like, Ron?" asked Ginny sarcastically, "A small spider. If it were bigger, we'd see more than just a shadow."

"Hermione," said Harry. "Let's start searching the room for horcruxes."

The brunette performed the spell at several places in this house, followed closely by the rest of them. They found blood stains on the floor of the living room, presumably where the parents were killed. Hermione performed other spells meant to reveal hidden doors at various locations, along with the horcrux detector. It seemed as though the only things to be found were dust, rats, and insects. At Ginny's suggestion, Hermione and Ron started shooting every rat they saw with the spell that forces an animagus to show his or her true form. That was one of the spells Hermione had insisted they all learn. Harry felt better knowing Wormtail wasn't watching them. They finished that floor, scanning the kitchen and several other rooms. They then went upstairs, and searched the bedrooms and bathrooms up there. They finally made it to the last room. It was the smallest bedroom. They walked inside and saw what appeared to be a green spray-painted Dark Mark on the wall. Hermione checked it for a horcrux, and then they heard a snapping sound. Harry watched in horror as he saw a huge crack appear in the center of the symbol and work its way along the wall both up toward the ceiling and down toward the floor.

"Let's get out of here," Ron shouted.

"We don't have time!" yelled Ginny.

"Let's hold onto each other and try to protect out heads!" screamed Hermione.

"Concentrate on shielding and levitating yourself!" shouted Harry.

"Of course," said Hermione as though she'd missed a question to an exam. If she'd had more to say it was drowned out by the sound of the ceiling collapsing above and around them, followed by the floor below them.

When the dust settled, several minutes later, four very filthy teenagers could be seen floating about six feet above the wreckage, all huddled in what appeared to be a group hug. Slowly they began to descend onto the wreck that used to be a house. Fortunately, no one seemed to be looking, so Hermione quickly scourgified them all, revealing minor scrapes and cuts, but no major injuries.

"Er, Hermione," said Harry, "Did you detect a horcrux when that happened, or was that just a booby trap set just in case someone looked for one?"

"No, I didn't detect one. I-I think it was just a trap, but I'll scan the wreckage anyway. All of you stand around me and watch for muggles."

"I hope Tom doesn't find out about this and figure out what we're doing," said Ginny.

"So do I," said Harry gravely. "So do I."

After an hour of Hermione carefully scanning ever inch of the wreck, finding absolutely nothing, they abandoned the search. They walked to a more isolated area nearby that Harry knew about, and Hermione performed healing spells on their cuts and bruises. She said, "This way your mum won't ask embarrassing questions about our appearance. These are only minor healing charms. I think I need to learn some stronger ones, in case we need them later."

"So this has been a wasted trip!" exclaimed Ron.

"No it hasn't," said Ginny. "First of all, we've now eliminated one hiding place, and secondly, we've learned that we need to be more careful."

"We've also learned that we need a new book on advanced healing spells and detecting traps," said Hermione, "As well as some muggle flashlights."

"Well," said Harry, "There's a store we can walk to from here to get the flashlights and batteries. After that, we can take the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley, eat some dinner, buy those books, and floo back to the Burrow."

"Maybe we can try to enjoy our double-date before we do that," suggested Ginny. "Is there one of those muggle tea-thaters around here. I think we have time to watch a mow-vy."

-

Please review.


	11. Happy Birthday Harry

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 11 – Happy Birthday Harry**

The days that followed found the quartet working harder than ever on everything, including detecting magical traps, as well as an advanced book on healing charms. The day after their first search, Hermione and Harry (under his cloak) went back to Diagon Alley and found books on detecting magical traps. Ginny and Ron had chores to do, so Mrs. Weasley made them stay home. When his mum was out of the room Ron muttered something like, "degnoming the garden is more important than vanquishing Voldemort to that woman."

When they got back, they were also put to work by the Weasley matriarch. When they finally got to meet in Ginny's bedroom, after silencing the door, Hermione took out the books. "I've seen that book before," said Ginny, pointing at one of them. "Bill has it. He said that it was the most useful book he'd found on detecting curses." Since Bill was a curse-breaker for Gringotts, that was quite a good recommendation.

"Very well," said Hermione, "We'll start with this."

The days passed by quickly, and before they knew it, it was July 31st, Harry's seventeenth birthday. He lay in bed, sound asleep, when he felt a strangely familiar sensation. Something was touching his lips. It felt like someone else's lips were pressed upon his. He could swell the flowery scent he so loved and thought, "Ginny." He briefly contemplated saying, "Pansy, oh Pansy how I've missed you!" but figured he'd end up hexed very badly by a double bat-bogey hex for his attempt at humor.

He opened his eyes to see his beloved looking down on him. She pulled her lips away and said, "Happy Birthday, Harry."

"It is now," he sighed contentedly. "Good morning, Ginny. I love you." He then wandlessly conjured a red rose and handed it to Ginny.

"Thank you Harry. That's so sweet! Giving me a rose on your birthday." She then kissed him again, this time pressing her tongue to his lips, requesting entrance.

Harry's mouth opened, and the kiss became a passionate snog that continued until they heard Ron's voice calling, "Ginny, I let you in here to kiss him awake for his birthday, not swallow his tonsils!"

"And where were you and Hermione while we were snogging," said Ginny defiantly, causing Ron to go purple.

"That's different," said Ron, "we're of age."

"So is Harry," said Ginny.

"But you're not!" said Ron.

"I will not let you ruin Harry's birthday!" said Ginny. "Harry, get dressed and then let's take a walk."

A few minutes later, Harry and Ginny were outside, enjoying the beautiful summer day. "Ginny, I've got to admit it. That was the most bloody brilliant wake-up call I've ever had!"

"I hoped you'd like it! I fully expect the same from you on my birthday, which is August eleventh in case you didn't know."

"I didn't. Thanks for letting me know in advance. It could save me from a terrible hex."

Ginny giggled. "I didn't think Ron would tell you. The only times I've seen you on my birthday were just before I started Hogwarts, and the day before your trial."

"Now that you mention it, I do remember a birthday party when I was staying here after your brothers rescued me from the Dursleys before my second year, but I don't remember anybody mentioning your birthday at Grimmauld Place."

She looked down. "Er, everyone, including me, was very worried about your trial and sort of forgot."

"I'm so sorry. It was my fault."

"NO IT WASN'T! It was Fudge and Umbridge's fault!" she said firmly. "Anyway, while you were at the ministry, mum remembered and apologized.

"They should've given you a party after the trial," said Harry.

"Yeah, the 'Harry Got Off, and by the way Happy Late Fourteenth Birthday

Ginny' party."

"I feel like such a git," said Harry. "I didn't even get you something last year either, even after the D.A. and even the ministry. I should've gotten you something then!"

"You arrived the day after my birthday, Harry. A year after your trial. Besides, I never got you a present before."

"You gave me one this morning.

"I also got you something besides that," said Ginny with a smile. Anyway, you'll have your chance in a few weeks to make up for the six birthdays I've had since we met."

"How about I start right now?" said Harry, lowering his head to kiss her.

-

After their walk, Harry and Ginny, along with Ron and Hermione, went to Harry's house for their normal training.

"Any luck figuring out the next location we should visit?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Not much. I know the city, but I need to find the address. If only I could use my computer."

"Why don't you go home after we're through here?" suggested Harry.

"I can't go today," said Hermione, "It's your birthday."

"Which is why Ron and I are going to the ministry to take our apparition tests once we're done here so we have licenses." "There's no point in you staying around the Burrow for that. I don't want another extra day of innocent people dying because of my birthday."

"All right Harry," said Hermione, "I understand."

-

After they got back to the Burrow and ate lunch, Ginny went with Hermione to the Granger residence while Harry and Ron went to the Ministry to take their tests.

Three hours later, a few small pops were heard at the Burrow when Harry and Ron appeared with smiles on their faces and a small piece of parchment in each of their hands. "We're here! We got our licenses," Harry called happily when they didn't see anyone around."

"Thank God you're here!" shouted Mrs. Weasley's voice from the kitchen. "There was an attack at Hermione's house!" she said in a panic. "Ginny's hurt! Hermione said you might be able to save her!"

"Can we apparate together?" said Harry, now in full alert mode. "I don't know where she lives."

"I've been there," said Ron. "I'll take you." They took out their wands, Harry grabbed his friend's arm, and together they disappeared.

Harry found himself facing a scene of horror. The block had several damaged houses and cars, and several bodies were lying on the street. "Let's find Ginny!" said Harry, as they started to walk quickly.

"Harry!" they heard Hermione's voice from behind them. They turned and ran to where she was. Hermione had several minor cuts, and her clothes were torn and filthy. Hermione said, "She took out six Death Eaters before she fell! I don't know what curse she was hit with, but it looks bad! Try to do what she did for you!"

Then he saw her unconscious form lying on the ground. She was pale and truthfully appeared to be dead if not for her chest rising and falling. He quickly dropped to his knees, tears forming in his eyes as he held her tightly. He kissed her face as he said, "You can't die! You haven't had your birthday yet! Dammit! Why isn't anything happening? His tears started falling on her as he held her even closer, desperation filling his mind. He remembered thinking, "Let me die instead of her!" and then everything went blank.

He awoke to find Ginny kissing him awake again. "Ginny," he said when they separated. "I thought I'd lost you."

She helped him onto his feet and said, "You saved my life again."

Hermione said, "It wasn't working until you started crying on Ginny. I wonder if your bond makes your tears act similar to phoenix tears for each other. Anyway, you both glowed green and you passed out for a few seconds. Ginny kissed you awake."

"Hermione," said Harry, realizing that her house was the target of this assault. "What happened? Are you and your parents alright?"

"Y-Yes," the brunette said. "I was showing Ginny how to use the computer when we heard a loud explosion outside. We looked out the window and saw at least twenty Death Eaters marching toward my house, destroying anything or anyone in their path. I made a portkey for Ginny and my parents to take to the Burrow."

"Naturally, I refused to leave her alone to face them," added Ginny.

"Anyway," said Hermione, "After my parents were gone, Ginny and I made our way outside to fight the Death Eaters. Harry, Ginny was incredible, dodging and shooting like we've been practicing, and managed to take out five of them right away."

"I bat-bogey'd them and petrified them," she bragged.

"I only got four," continued the brunette, "but then I heard one of them shout, 'it's the Weasley girl, Potter's tramp,' their words, not mine. After that, they all ganged up on her. I did my best to defend her. She got one more of them before being hit. I caught the one that got her with a flock of birds followed by a stupefy. Then the Order arrived, took out a few more, and the cowards left once the odds were more even. I sent Mrs. Weasley to the Burrow and Mr. Weasley to the ministry to look for you, Harry. That was about five minutes before you arrived. Then I noticed the sign in the sky. She pointed above her house, where a Dark Mark was displayed with the words, 'Happy Birthday Harry!' underneath it.

Harry looked even more enraged than he had the day Dumbledore died. He simply stated, "I need to be alone. Ron, Hermione, take care of Ginny!" and disappeared with a small pop.

-

Please review.


	12. Birthday Party

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 12 – Birthday Party**

Harry arrived in the living room of Grimmauld Place with a small pop. He was about to start trashing the place when he heard Mad Eye's voice saying, "Harry? What are you doing here? You should be at the Burrow! We're having a meeting here."

Harry's face went even redder than it already was. "Were you busy at a meeting while Hermione's house was attacked?" He took a deep breath as his eyes got darker. "You can have your damn meeting in a few hours for all the good it will do!" shouted Harry. "For now, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" At that moment he distinctly heard several glasses break in the kitchen.

"Mr. Potter," said Minerva McGonagall.

"Ms. McGonagall," said Harry, trying to stop himself from doing something he'd regret. "Please clear everyone out of my house." Not waiting for an answer, he turned and stormed upstairs, but not before breaking every window on that floor with his magic. He heard the door opening, as well as pops of apparition and calls of locations obviously by those who traveled by floo. He went into the master bedroom and started beating on the walls with his fists, ignoring the blood that was coming from his knuckles. This went on for about ten minutes until tears started welling up in his eyes as he screamed, "Sirius! I almost lost two more today! Why the bloody hell won't he leave me alone?" He banged his fists on a desk and sat on the floor crying. He took a deep breath. "I can't do it anymore."

"What can't you do?" came the voice of Ginny from outside the door.

"Ginny, why'd you…"

"You can't fight Voldemort anymore? You're gonna let him do this to everyone? You're gonna let him win?"

"You shouldn't be here, Gin. I need to be alone."

"So you can break your knuckles on the walls and wallow in self pity?"

He kept trying to change the topic. "How'd you know I was here?"

"Half the Order came to my house to find out if I'd died! They said you kicked them out and broke all the windows."

"It's MY house and MY windows," he said, slightly chuckling at the thought of how deranged he must have appeared, "I can break them if I want."

"Just because the Death Eaters put that sign over Hermione's house doesn't make it your fault. They're the ones hurting people, and they're going to keep on hurting people until Tom is destroyed. If they hadn't attacked Hermione, they'd have simply attacked somewhere else."

"You were nearly killed!" Harry shouted. "You should have left!"

"Would you have left?" asked Ginny.

"No, but…"

"It's different with me? How? Why the hell have I been training if I'm supposed to run away whenever there's trouble?"

"I'm sorry," he muttered, "Hermione said you were brilliant. You only got hurt because they all ganged up on you once they realized who you were."

"The same way they'd have ganged up on you if you were there!" she said defiantly, "But that doesn't stop you from fighting, and it is not going to stop me! And don't even think about trying to pull off the same thing you did at Dumbledore's funeral unless you want to be running from bat bogies for the rest of your life!"

Harry chuckled at that thought.

Ginny continued, "Instead of having a tantrum here, you could be thankful that neither Hermione, her parents, or I were killed. Tom must really be scared of you to start attacking your friends' families."

Harry looked at her for the first time since she entered. "I don't know what I'd have done if you were killed."

"You'd have gone on and killed Voldemort, avenging my death as well as your parents' deaths." She sighed. "But that didn't happen. As it is, it's your birthday and we still haven't properly celebrated it. Come on back to the Burrow. There're a lot of scared Order members who just realized how powerful you are. They're not coming back here until they know you're calmed down." Harry nodded his head, and she reached out her hand to help him off the floor.

"Ouch," he yelled as their hands met. He pulled back his hand and examined his knuckles.

"I guess we have another chance to study our healing abilities," said Ginny with a smirk.

-

A few minutes later, a fully healed Harry apparated to the Burrow with his arms around Ginny. Most of the people who'd been at that Order meeting were there, including Ms. McGonagall, who stepped up. "Are you sufficiently calmed down now Mr. Potter?"

Harry looked embarrassed. "Er, yes. I'm sorry I was so, er, rude. You can have your meeting now." Ginny quietly slipped away during this discussion.

"Miss Granger told us about the message over the her house. It would make anyone upset. For what it's worth, I do hope that the rest of your birthday is happy."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Not long after the Order had left for Grimmauld Place, Mr. and Mrs. Granger came down the stairs. "Hello Harry," Mr. Granger said, offering his hand.

Harry shook it. "Hello Mr. Granger. I can't tell you how sorry I am about this attack. I'm…"

"Hermione said you'd try to blame yourself for it," interrupted Mrs. Granger. "You are trying to destroy the monster responsible for the attack!"

"Hermione also told us that you're the one who keeps saying that you can't waste days to relax because attacks like this are happening every day," said Mr. Granger. "That's why you sent Hermione and Ginny to our house, even though it's your birthday, and an important one in your world."

"I sent them to your house. I put them in danger. I…"

"If you hadn't sent me there, my parents would've been killed," yelled Hermione. "Stop blaming yourself! No one else does. Try to enjoy today!"

He took a deep breath and said, "Alright, I get the point," he said, lifting his hands in surrender."

"Good," said Hermione, as she waved her wand and the room went dark.

The door to the kitchen opened, and Ginny walked out, holding a cake with seventeen candles on it. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were behind her, along with Ron and the twins. They immediately started singing, "Happy Birthday to You."

Ginny set the cake down on the dining room table. "Make a wish and blow out the candles." Harry silently wished that by this time next year Voldemort would be defeated and everyone in that room would still be alive. He blew out the candles, cheating with wandless magic to make sure they all went out.

"How'd you do that?" asked both Fred and George together.

"Do what?" asked Harry.

"Blow the candles out?" said Fred.

"They weren't supposed to go out," said George.

"Unless a spell was used on them," said Fred.

Harry's ears turned pink. "Er, well, maybe they weren't working."

"Ok, which one of you helped him?" asked George.

"Ginny," said Fred, "I'll bet it was you."

"Ok guys, you caught me," she said. "Can I have a piece of cake before I'm sent to Azkaban, though?" She winked at Harry, telling him that she was covering for his use of wandless magic.

After they ate the cake (Ginny naturally cut Harry the first piece, which Ron, ever hungry, complained about), Harry opened his presents. He mostly received useful books on defense from everyone, with the exception of the twins, who gave him a supply of their filibuster fireworks, and Ginny, who gave him a gold necklace with a small heart-shaped locket that had 'H & G' engraved on it. He opened it to see a tiny picture of himself on one side and Ginny on the other side. The pictures were winking and blowing kisses at each other.

Mrs. Weasley eventually interrupted the party by saying, "It's time for bed. Mr. and Mrs. Granger will be in Percy's (sniff) old room until better accommodations are arranged. Good night, and happy birthday Harry."

-

Please review. Thank you to everyone who has already reviewed this story!


	13. The Potter Heir

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 13 – The Potter Heir**

The next morning, everybody who was staying at the Burrow ate breakfast together. When they'd finished, Harry said, "We've got to be going. See you all in a few hours."

"Harry," said Mrs. Weasley, "I want to thank you for helping Ginny yesterday. I don't know what you did for her, but it obviously worked because she's here. I thought I'd lost my baby. That's twice you've saved her life."

Harry's ears turned pink. "Well, anyway, we'll see you later."

Harry hugged Ginny to him and apparated them to Grimmauld Place. A few seconds after they arrived, they were joined by Ron and Hermione. Hermione said, "I hope Mrs. Weasley doesn't ask what Harry actually did for Ginny."

"I know," said Ginny, "We can't let anyone know about our gift."

"Anyway," said Harry, "We need to start our workout."

-

After they'd finished their physical and magical workout, they decided to stay there for a few more hours reading in private. Ron was reading his dark quidditch book with interest. Ginny was reading a book on hexes. Hermione was reading more of Dumbledore's notes. Harry decided to read the genealogy book that they'd used to find out Regulus' middle name. He wanted to research his own family tree.

He started with the bottom of his family tree. He was the last of the Potters. Above him were his parents' names, James Potter and Lily Evans (It used maiden names because the married name would be useless in researching ancestry). It did not show any of Lily Evans' muggle family. He decided to follow the Potter Family as far back as he could. He eventually came to a very interesting piece of information after a dozen generations before him. Michael Potter and a woman named Abigail Gryffindor were Harry's direct ancestors. When he saw that, he looked up the Gryffindor family, and found that it ended with Abigail as the only child. "I'm the last Gryffindor," he muttered to himself, "the heir of Gryffindor for whatever good that does me."

"What was that?" asked Ginny, who was sitting near him with her book.

"I'm not only the last Potter, but I'm the last Gryffindor as well."

"What do you mean? Everyone in my family has been in Gryffindor, along with hundreds of others."

"That's not what I mean," said Harry, "look at this book."

After Harry had shown Ginny his family tree, she said, "I guess it's only fitting that the heir of Gryffindor would be the enemy of the heir of Slytherin."

"What?" said Hermione and Ron together, who'd just entered the room holding hands.

After Harry and Ginny had explained it to the other couple, Hermione said, "I wonder if that has any significance."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for one thing, it could mean you have some sort of gift you don't know about. All the Slytherin family members can speak parseltongue, for example. I wonder if the Gryffindor line has any specific gifts like that. You may also own more gold or valuables than you know of. The Slytherins spent all of their family fortune, but maybe the Gryffindors didn't."

"Maybe we should ask Dumbledore's portrait about it," suggested Harry, "and while we're there, I need to get Snape's old potions book. I forgot it last time."

"I thought we'd agreed that we should leave that book alone," said Hermione.

"You heard Voldemort in that memory. He doesn't want me to finish reading it! That's good enough reason for me to read it."

"Fine!" Hermione said, "There might be important information in it, I suppose. We should also tell Dumbledore that we have confirmed that Harry can heal Ginny."

-

After they flooed Ms. McGonagall before barging into her office, the quartet found itself alone and speaking to Dumbledore's portrait once again. The first thing they told him was the story of the attack on the Granger residence, which resulted in Harry healing Ginny.

"That's an interesting hypothesis, Miss Granger, that their healing works when they cry as phoenix tears. It is most certainly a possibility. As I said before, there is no actual record of this sort of thing happening before."

"I was wondering, sir," said Harry, "if you knew I was the last descendant of Godric Gryffindor."

"What?" said Dumbledore, "I thought his line died out long ago with Abigail."

"She married a Potter, according to a genealogy book I found at Black Manor, and she ended up becoming my ancestor."

"Hm," said Dumbledore, "I wonder why James never chose to confide that information with me."

"Maybe he didn't know," suggested Harry.

"Maybe he didn't trust you entirely," said Ginny, "After all, you trusted Snape. He may have feared you'd tell him."

"Anyway," said Hermione, trying to avoid a row, "we were wondering if there was any gift that ran through the Gryffindor line, like parseltongue runs through the Slytherin line."

"For that information," said Dumbledore sadly, "I'd suggest you consult the school library for everything it has on Godric Gryffindor. I never actually researched that out, since I thought it to be irrelevant information. I do know, however, that Gringotts has a huge vault that only the heir of Gryffindor can enter. The ministry of magic once suggested that the goblins open the vault and distribute whatever is in it to the other pureblood families. The goblins claimed that even if they wanted to do that, they couldn't because only the heir of Gryffindor could enter the vault. Hm. I wonder if the goblins know that the Potters are the heirs of Gryffindor, and they're just not telling anyone. In any case, Harry, I suggest you visit Gringotts."

"I will," said Harry. "I just have one thing I left here last time that I need to pick up, and then I'll go right there."

-

They quickly went to the room of requirement, where they picked up the Half-Blood Prince's potions book, and came back to the office. Before they flooed to Diagon Alley, Dumbledore said, "Don't forget your sword. I suggest you learn how to use it properly."

Harry smiled as he realized what Dumbledore meant. He walked over to where the sword of Gryffindor, which he'd used to slay a basilisk years before, was displayed. He opened the case and picked up the sword, which wasn't nearly as heavy to him as it had been when he was twelve. He looked at it for a few minutes, swinging it a bit, and then put it back in its case. "Hermione," Harry said, "Can you shrink it and put it in the bag with books that Ron's carrying?"

-

Within minutes, the four of them were stepping outside the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione said, "Harry, we're alone. Why don't put on your cloak so no one sees you?"

Harry pulled it out of his pocket and covered himself, saying, "Good idea. I don't need everybody knowing that I'm going to the bank.

They made it to Gringotts without incident. Once they were inside, Ron asked if they could have a private audience with one of the goblins. They were led into a plain looking room with a circular table with nine chairs. The walls were white, and there was nothing on the walls. Harry took off his cloak and stuffed it back into his pocket. He then took out the book of genealogies in case he had to prove his claim.

After about fifteen minutes, a goblin Harry recognized came into the room. For a moment, he stared at Harry, and then his face put on an expression that Harry guessed was a goblin smile. "Hello, Mr. Potter. I'm not sure if you recognize me or not. My name is Griphook."

After the others had been introduced, and Harry assured the goblin that he completely trusted them, Griphook said, "Well Mr. Potter, I'm glad you've come here. It saves me the trouble of owling you."

"Owling me?" said Harry.

"Yes, now that you are of age, we have much to discuss."

"Like what?"

"You now have access to the Potter vaults. The one you've been using was only your trust fund, which I've noticed has begun to diminish significantly in the past few months. However, that's none of my business. One of the Potter vaults has enough gold in it to make all the money your parents put in your trust vault look like a knut. The other has many Potter family heirlooms, some of which are extremely valuable." He snapped his finger and a portfolio appeared in front of Harry. It had a blue cover and was labeled, 'The Potter Family's Assets.' The goblin continued, "This portfolio has the contents of all three vaults listed, and is charmed to always be accurate. Your inheritance from Professor Dumbledore has already been added to the Potter family assets. His money is in the main Potter vault. His heirlooms are in your heirloom vault. His properties are listed with yours."

Harry flipped through the portfolio while Griphook sat silently at the table. Harry's companions were reading over his shoulders. The first page said how much gold was in the main vault. Harry's eyes buldged out at that figure. He was a very rich man. The next several pages listed specific items in the heirloom vault, which included, he noticed, his parents' wedding rings among other things. It listed the approximate value of each item in the inventory. The next page listed how much gold was left in his trust vault. After that, there was a list of several properties and businesses, both wizard and muggle, with an approximate value listed next to each. The last page was a summery of everything, showing him that he was, in fact, filthy rich.

Harry closed the portfolio and stared at Griphook for about thirty seconds, completely speechless. "Wow," he finally said.

"Wow indeed," said Griphook, "With just these assets, you are now the richest wizard that does business with Gringotts, but that's not all of your assets."

"Huh?" said Harry articulately.

"Due to your, er, family situation, I do not know if you are aware of it or not, but you are the heir of Gryffindor."

Harry smiled, "That's actually the reason I came here. Today I was reading a wizard genealogy and found out. I heard that there is a Gryffindor vault here and wanted to find out if you knew I was the heir."

"Actually," said Griphook, "there are two vaults. It is actually a common practice for wizarding families to have two vaults – one for money and the other for valuables." He snapped his finger again and another portfolio appeared in front of Harry. It had a red cover and said, "The Gryffindor Family's Assets."

Harry very quickly flipped through this as well. He looked up and said, "We'd like to look through both heirloom vaults. I think I'll look at the Gryffindor one first. I think I'll want to spend more time in my parents' vault, so we'll do that last."

Griphook looked slightly concerned. He said, "I'm afraid that the enchantments protecting those vaults only allow Potters, and those with magical bonds to Potters, to enter. Your friends will have to stay behind."

"What kind of bonds?" asked Ginny immediately. "Harry and I have a life bond. He saved my life a few years ago."

"Did he?" smiled Griphook. "I'm not sure if you can enter or not. It depends on how strong your bond is."

"It's very strong," said Harry, "We are also in love." Ginny blushed at this statement.

"Really?" asked Griphook. "That's a lot more rare than you'd think."

"The bond has manifested itself in a very powerful, unique way," said Hermione, "that we'd like to keep a secret."

"Very well," said Griphook, "if you're confident in your bond, then Miss Weasley can come. I'm afraid the others cannot. If you wish, you may wait here. However, it will probably take hours, so you may wish to leave."

"That's a good idea," said Harry, "You may wish to go to a muggle library to continue the research that was interrupted yesterday."

Hermione said, "If you're sure…"

"I am. There's no reason for you to waste precious time. Just promise to be careful," said Harry.

"We will. You and Ginny do the same," said Hermione.

"We will. See you later, guys," said Ginny.

"Bye," said Ron.

Harry put his cloak back on and followed Griphook and Ginny while Hermione and Ron left the bank. Harry was carrying the portfolios. Griphook then said, looking toward Ginny, "If you're planning on taking anything out of the vaults, may I suggest you purchase one of our bottomless featherweight trunks to bring with you? We started carrying them a few years ago after several customers complained that they forgot to bring something to carry large items in. We used to only carry coin pouches. The trunks are thirty Galleons each."

Harry whispered, "Yes," to Griphook, who told them to wait for a minute while he got one from behind the counter. He got a plain-looking black trunk and came back to them.

"We thought about putting the bank's name on the trunk, but that would probably encourage people to rob them. It has a security system based off of what muggles call fingerprints. I'll show you when we get to the vault."

-

After a very long, exciting rollercoaster-type ride, they finally got out at a vault that looked different than any that Harry had ever seen. The door was round and red. It had a gold lion face in the center of it. Harry took off his cloak. Griphook said, "First I'll set up your trunk security system. Do you want Miss Weasley to be able to open it?"

"Yes," said Harry, without hesitation.

"Very well." Griphook then put his right hand on the trunk and said, "Each of you put your right hands on the trunk. He said something in what Harry assumed was the goblin language, and the trunk glowed white for a few seconds. Griphook then said, "Now in order for the trunk to open, one of you needs to have your right hand on it. Now, for the vault. Miss Weasley, I believe you should try first. Touch the lion's head. If you are rejected, you'll be thrown backwards, but don't worry, we'll catch you."

She slowly walked toward the vault's door and hesitantly put her hand on it. The gold lion glowed green for a moment, and then the door started rising. Harry put his portfolios in the trunk and carried it next to Ginny while they waited for the door to rise high enough for them to enter.

Griphook said, "Even now no one but you two could enter. The vault will close once you're in there. I'll leave you for now, but will be alerted as soon as the vault reopens."

They walked inside together, and as soon as they crossed the threshold, the door slammed back down. What they saw inside took their breath away. It was like being in a museum where everything was made out of either precious metals or jewels. There was a small wooden podium in the front that held a book. Harry took a look at the book, and soon realized that a page was devoted to every object in that vault. It appeared to have been written by Godric Gryffindor himself. He started examining some of the objects. There was a wall that was covered with nothing but war-related objects. A shield made out of a metal they couldn't identify, with a gold lion on a red background painted on the front. There was an empty space where a sword was obviously supposed to hang. Harry smiled, realizing he already had the sword that belonged there. He saw two glistening suits that were obviously some kind of protective suits to be worn underneath wizard robes. They each consisted of a helmet, a long-sleeved shirt, one of which had obviously been made for a woman, a pair of pants, a pair of gloves, and a pair of socks. He looked it up in the inventory book, and read some of the entry for them. It said,

'The two mithril suits, as light as a feather, and as hard as dragon scales, made by dwarves, were worn by myself and my wife in wartime. They are charmed to fit the wearer perfectly. Mithril is even more magically powerful than real dragon scales. Not only did they shield us from muggle attacks, but also from almost all magical attacks. In the case of the avada kadavra curse, although we fortunately didn't test it, I believe that the armor would act as any other object used as a shield. That is, I believe the armor would be destroyed, but the wearer would survive. However, they obviously would then be vulnerable. My suggestion is that you wear the armor, but when you're in battle, pretend you don't have the armor on. In other words, dodge and block any attacks that come your way.'

Harry then looked up to Ginny, who was walking around. "Ginny, come here." Harry pulled the suits off the wall and handed her the one that appeared to be made for a female. "This is a type of armor. Put it on under your clothes."

She turned red. "Y-You want me to change my clothes here, in front of you? I don't think I want to, er, right now."

Harry blushed. "I-I er, didn't mean for you to strip in front of me, er, unless you'd like to, I, er, I do want you to put it on though. I'm gonna put on the other suit. I thought you could find a private corner of the room and change. I promise I won't spy on you."

"Er, all right Harry, but if I catch you peeping at me, you'll be facing a bat bogey hex."

"I'll bet it would be worth it," he said with an evil grin

She disappeared behind some other stuff so he couldn't see her, and he started flipping through the pages of the book, trying desperately not to think about Ginny changing her clothes just a few feet away. He thought about Moody's magical eye that can see through walls, and briefly wondered if he was a peeping Tom. Then Harry wondered if he was the peeping Tom wannabe. He knew Ginny would be listening for his footsteps, even if he used his cloak. After several minutes of staring blankly at a page contemplating the ethics involved in spying on his girlfriend, knowing he'd never really do it, she walked out from her corner and straight to him.

She said, "I'm done, and it's surprisingly comfortable," and then pulled him into a passionate kiss.

When they separated, he asked, "Not that I'm complaining at all, but what was that for?"

She smiled, "For not trying to sneak a peak at me."

He put his head down, "Maybe you shouldn't have; I was thinking about it the whole time."

She smiled and lifted up his chin. "I hope so. If you weren't, it'd mean that you either find me completely repulsive or you just don't like girls. Now it's your turn to change while I think of ways to spy on you. Can I borrow your invisibility cloak?"

After Harry had put on his armor (without loaning her the invisibility cloak, claiming that it wouldn't be fair if he couldn't watch her but she could watch him), they looked at various other items and read the descriptions. They decided to take certain jewelry with different protective charms, as well as the Gryffindor shield and a huge book on ancient magic that had been co-written by Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw after Slytherin separated from them. They also took another huge book on the history of the Gryffindor family. They decided to take the actual inventory book with them as well, so that they could read it at their leisure and decide if they wanted to bring something else.

Harry then touched the door, which started rising, and said, "I think I'm ready to look at my parents' vault."

-

Please review. Thank you for all the kind reviews I have gotten so far.


	14. Family

Harry Potter and all characters, etc

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 14 – Family**

As Harry and Ginny were waiting for Griphook to return, Harry said, "Too bad there weren't more mithril suits for Ron and Hermione."

Ginny looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Do you know how rare those are? I've only ever heard of mithril in legends! I doubt any suits have been made since the founders were alive! You're lucky to have any! Of course, if you'd rather Hermione had the one I'm…"

"I want you to always wear that," Harry said firmly.

Ginny smiled wickedly. "Even in the shower?"

"No, not in the shower, but maybe I should stand guard when…"

"Oh, no you don't, Mister Potter," said Ginny, despite the fact her cheeks were as red as her hair.

Before Harry could respond, Griphook arrived and they proceeded to the Potter Heirloom vault. The door looked very much like the Gryffindor vault, except that instead of a lion, it had a stag. Harry was looking intently at the stag when Griphook said, "It used to be just a golden 'P' until your father had it changed to this. Does that hold any significance to you?"

"Well," said Harry, smiling. He decided how much information he should give away. "My Patronus is a stag. Maybe all Potter Patronuses are stags."

"Interesting," said Griphook, while giving Harry a scrutinizing look. "Anyway, I believe it's about time to go on into your family vault."

Harry placed his hand on the stag and whispered, "Hi Prongs," as the door started to open.

There wasn't as much stuff in there, but what was in that vault was impressive. There was a podium with an inventory book similar to the one in the other vault. Harry noticed a jewelry display, and looked up various items. When he looked up his parents' wedding rings in the book, he read out loud that, "'It is impossible for a Legilimens to read someone's mind while they are wearing one of our rings. Not even Voldemort can get through the magical wall it puts around a person.' Ginny, I insist that you wear one of those rings."

"Harry," she said blushing, "Those are wedding rings. That's not a good way to propose."

Harry blushed a bit, "That wasn't a proposal, though that doesn't seem a bad idea either. I want your mind protected from Tom. I'm going to wear the other one."

She sighed, "Too bad. I guess I'll wear it. Do you want me to wear it on the finger that will indicate that we're engaged?"

Harry at that moment made a decision. He walked up to her with one of the rings. It was gold with small rubies spread out on the bottom of the band, and one big ruby on top. (Only muggle marketers make the public think that the diamond is the only gem that can be used on a wedding band.) To her complete astonishment, he got down on one knee in front of her, and took her left hand in his. He said with a very shaky voice, "I-I know we haven't really been dating that long, and you can say no if you want to. But I know that I love you, and that I always will. I'm asking you to marry me when this war is over. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you."

She stared at him with tears forming in her eyes. She swallowed hard as she gazed into his emerald eyes. "Y-You really want to marry me?"

He looked directly into her chocolate eyes, and said, "Yes. I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

A broad smile appeared on her face, while at the same time a few stray tears escaped her eyes. "Then I will."

He smiled even wider than she did, and he gently placed the ring on the appropriate finger, and then kissed her hand. She then helped him up with that hand and then kissed him more deeply than she ever had. After a few minutes of passionate snogging, they broke apart. While Harry was gasping for air, he said, "We should see what else is in here," after he grabbed his ring and slipped it on.

They looked in a corner of the room and saw two staffs with a hole at the bottom. Ginny looked them up in the book and said, "The staffs are capable of focusing magic much more than a regular wand, thus making a spell even more powerful. To use them, simply stick your wand in the hole so that the staff has a magical core. Without a wand inside, the staff is useless (except to hit someone in the head with). It also has a spell for making the staff appear and disappear from your wand once they've been joined. It says that your wand's performance won't be affected when the staff isn't shown. There's also a spell to disconnect the wand and staff." Ginny then looked up from the book and said, "I wonder what my Bat Bogey Hex would be like if I did it with this staff."

Harry chuckled, "I don't want to be the one who finds out. I'll take one, and give you the other."

Harry took the staffs and handed one to Ginny. "Well, here goes nothing," he said as he got his wand and slid it into the staff. The wooden five-foot high staff glowed green for a moment before returning to normal, with no hole in the bottom. He then took a galleon out of his pocket, threw it on the floor, and pointed his staff at it thinking, "Wingardium Leviosa." The coin rose at an incredibly fast rate, slamming into the ceiling a half-second later, echoing the sound through the vault. After Harry released the coin, and it fell back to the ground, Harry said, "I'm glad I didn't try 'Lumos,' or we'd both be blind. Please Ginny, don't use that to hex anybody who doesn't have the Dark Mark, or Voldemort himself. It would be the Dragon-Bogey Hex. What's the spell for hiding the staff?"

"The incantation is simply, 'Wand.'" At that moment, Ginny's staff morphed back into her wand in about three seconds. "Whoops. When you want the staff, you hold your wand and say, 'Staff.'" It changed back. "Wand," she said again, and then put it away when it had changed. "To remove your wand, you turn it into a staff and say, 'Separate.'"

After Harry had tried it out a few times, he stowed his staff/wand away. He then pointed at another corner and said, "Look at that."

He was pointing at a short sword that was in a sheath. It appeared to be made out of the same material as the sword and shield of Gryffindor. It truthfully looked like a smaller version of Gryffindor's sword except that it said, 'Abigail Gryffindor' instead of 'Godric.' "Wow," said Ginny, "It matches your sword, but it has a sheath."

"It's yours now," said Harry, "And I'm buying myself a sheath. If it's alright with you, I'm gonna find someone to teach us how to fight with swords."

"Hem, Hem," came a sound that made Harry draw his wand and spin around. He noticed Ginny had done the same as he searched for the source of the sound. His eyes finally rested on a portrait that was in an ornate frame of gold with small emeralds spread out on it. In the center of the bottom, a bunch of tiny emeralds were placed next to each other to form the words, 'Abigail Potter.' She was a middle-aged attractive woman with jet-black hair and blue eyes. Her face seemed a bit pale.

"Er," said an unsure Harry to the portrait, "Was that you?"

"Of course it was me," she said happily, "Do you see anyone else standing here? Since you're in here, you must be a Potter. You look a lot like James, so I guess you must be Harry. I thought you were dead! The Potter line isn't gone! Where are James and Lily?"

Harry put his head down, "They, er, were killed when I was a baby."

The portrait's face fell a bit. "Then they are dead. I thought Voldemort killed all three of you. How did you survive?"

"It's a long story. Anyway, you're right, I am Harry Potter, and I'm trying to defeat Voldemort."

"As my frame says, I'm Abigail Potter, the last person born with the proud name of Gryffindor. Who is this young woman? I saw you ask her to marry you. How did she get in here?"

Both Harry and Ginny blushed. Ginny answered, "I-I'm Ginny, I mean, Genevra Weasley. I owe Harry a life debt from, er, something that happened four years ago. Since we fell in love, that bond has strengthened, and I was allowed in here."

Abigail smiled, "Amazing. It's good to meet you both. Make sure to make a new generation of Potters, with more than just one child this time." Harry and Ginny's faces were redder than the rubies on Ginny's ring. "Now that we've met each other properly, I'll tell you why I got your attention. You were speaking of finding an instructor for sword fighting, and I'd like to volunteer. After all, one of the swords you're using is my own."

Harry stared at the portrait and said, "Er, but you're in a frame. You can't…"

"…Touch you?" the portrait asked, and then sighed. "I hope you're not such a dunderhead that you can't listen to instructions without the teacher holding your hand. Since there are two of you learning, you'll have someone to duel with who will be near your level. Though I'd guess she'll surpass you before too long."

Ginny chuckled at Harry. Harry decided to ignore the insult and said, "Er, I suppose we could try. I want to keep our training secret anyway. This way I won't have to risk hiring an instructor. That is, if Ginny agrees."

"Of course I agree," said Ginny, smirking, "Abigail likes me."

"Good, it'll be nice to leave this vault. There is one other thing you might want to take. Sixteen years ago, Lily put her diary in here just before she went into hiding. You may want to read it."

Harry found the old muggle diary that appeared in good shape. He picked it up, closed his eyes, and hugged it briefly to his chest. He let out a sigh and tossed it into his open trunk. He then put the portrait in the trunk, along with the vault inventory. Together, Harry and Ginny walked out of the vault.

Harry was quiet as they waited for Griphook, until Ginny said, "Harry, do you want to talk about it?"

"No," he said.

"Then talk about something else, like how we'll break the news of our engagement to my family. Don't just stand there sulking."

He took a deep breath. "I didn't expect to tell a portrait that my parents were dead, and I didn't expect to find mum's diary. I knew the rings were there. I expected that. Why couldn't I have found a portrait of my parents instead of some multi-great grandmother?"

"She is a relative you never knew about! She's the first relative you've ever met besides the Dursleys! You should be happy about it!"

"I am. I guess I'm feeling a bit disappointed. I wanted to get to know my parents somehow. I don't know, maybe the diary will help." He then smiled, "We're engaged! We should be celebrating and I'm acting like a prat! When we get out of here, we're going out to dinner in muggle London! Anywhere you want to go! I've certainly got the money."

"You're on!" said Ginny happily.

At that moment, Griphook arrived in a cart. Harry asked, "Griphook, is there any way I could access the money in my vault without always coming here? I mean, muggles have what's called bank cards…"

"Of course, Mr. Potter, although most customers don't ask for it," said Griphook excitedly. "Our latest device is a muggle wallet that has a change pouch as well as a place for muggle paper money. You hold the wallet and simply say how much you want, whether it's in Galleons, Pounds, Dollars, or any other type of currency. If you've requested coins, they appear in the change pouch, and if you've requested paper money, it appears in the billfold. You'll find it quite easy to simply repeat your bill in front of muggles without them noticing. It is a one time charge of one hundred Galleons for the wallet, and it will be set to only respond to you."

"I'll take two. One for me and one for Ginny," Harry said quickly.

"No," said Ginny. "You don't have to…"

"Ginny," said Harry, "You're my fiancé and the love of my life. I want to share this with you. When we get married it'll be half yours anyway."

"Fine, but I don't want it to be black like the trunks."

"You may choose whatever colors you wish, and it appears congratulations are in order."

"Thanks, Griphook," said Harry, "I do want mine to be black."

"Thanks," said Ginny, "I want a light shade of purple."

-

They left Gringotts, both under Harry's invisibility cloak, and walked to the Leaky Cauldron, and out to Muggle London. Harry looked unsurely at his fiancé. "Er, do you know any good muggle restaurants?"

Ginny smiled, "As a matter of fact I do. There's this place not far from here that my parents go to on their anniversary…"

-

Harry transfigured their clothes appropriately, and they got a muggle taxi to take them to the restaurant, where they enjoyed a relaxing, Voldemort-free meal. They arrived rather late at the Burrow. While they were dusting themselves off, they saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, along with Ron and Hermione, apparently waiting for them.

"Where have you two been?" screamed Mrs. Weasley. "Ron and Hermione said you had some business at Gringotts, but it couldn't have taken you that long! We have been worried sick! With You-Know-Who out there looking for Harry…"

"Voldemort!" said Harry, "The mortal half-blood sub-human named Tom Riddle invented the rather stupid-sounding name Voldemort! He even called himself a lord, while he was a student at Hogwarts! He wants you to shake in fear whenever you hear that name as though he were some kind of god who can hear you speaking it, but there is absolutely nothing to fear from his name! You are giving Voldemort power by fearing his name! Dumbledore was saying that for years!"

"Fine! V-V-Voldemort is out there looking for you!" said Mrs. Weasley.

"He didn't find us," said Harry. "I'm sorry, but I am getting sick of people acting like that name has some kind of power. It doesn't have any more power than the name Pigwidgeon. Besides, we are probably better protected and armed right now than anybody in England. Tonight, Ginny and I decided not to let him rule our lives for a few hours. We, er, we…Ginny?" Harry's face was getting pink.

She shot Harry a quick glare and said, "Coward. We wanted to celebrate our, our…"

"Your what?" asked Molly.

Hermione spotted their rings and said, "Oh my god! You're engaged!" and then squealed with joy as she saw the expressions on their faces confirming her hypothesis. Ron just stared in silence.

"Engaged?" asked Molly. "Engaged! Harry dear, I hope you know I think the world of you but you must understand that GINNY IS WAY TOO YOUNG TO GET MARRIED!! Maybe in a few years…"

"In other words, mother," said Ginny coldly, "You want us to sneak away and elope."

"Elope? No, I…"

"Harry, my boy," said Mr. Weasley in a friendly voice, "Why don't we go outside and have a little chat?"

Deep inside, Harry knew this talk would be coming, but he still didn't want to have it. But he figured that if he can face Riddle all those times, he could face this. He got up and followed Arthur out the door.

After they'd walked out of hearing distance from the house, Arthur stopped, and looked really nervous. "So, Harry, what did you mean by saying you were better protected and armed than anybody else?"

"Well, for protection, both Ginny and I are wearing Mithril armor under our clothes. See?" He unbuttoned his shirt to reveal it.

"Mithril?" said Arthur, clearly surprised. "I didn't think they made those anymore. It had to be expensive."

"Actually, it didn't cost me anything. I received my full inheritance at the bank. The outfits were in one of my vaults. We've also both got a…" He pulled his wand out, "…staff." Arthur jumped back when Harry's wand grew into the staff.

"Wow," said Arthur, "I'm impressed."

Harry took a deep breath. "I suppose I should tell you that I found out today that with what I inherited from Dumbledore, Sirius, and my parents, I am the richest wizard that Gringotts knows of." Arthur's eyebrows raised at this statement. "I certainly know that money isn't everything, but I want you to know that I can take care of Ginny. After we got engaged, we decided to go out to dinner at a restaurant in muggle London that Ginny says you take Mrs. Weasley to for your anniversaries. I suppose we should have let somebody know what we were doing, but it was completely spontaneous, which means Voldemort couldn't have gotten foreknowledge of it." He took another deep breath. "I hope you know that if something happened, I would've defended Ginny with my very life. I just…"

"Harry, son, calm down. No harm was done."

"I'm sorry Mr. Weasley, I…"

"Arthur, or dad."

Harry blinked, "Dad?"

"Well, I'm going to be your father-in-law, aren't I?" Arthur said with a grin.

"W-Well, yes, then you, er, approve?" he said hopefully.

"Harry, I've never had the privilege of meeting a more upstanding young man than you. I've thought of you as another son for a long time now. I would be proud to make that official. I know that Molly feels the same way, too. She just doesn't want to lose our youngest child, our only little girl, who's not quite so little anymore. When were you planning on, er, marrying?"

"Well, we talked about waiting until the war is over."

Arthur looked down to the ground for about thirty seconds before he spoke. "Molly may make me sleep on the couch for a week for this, but I would like to advise you against that. You're letting V-Voldemort rule your life. I know we're all hoping that it ends soon, and I know you're doing something secret to help, but what if this war goes on for twenty years? I believe that you two should set a date and stick to it."

"But if she's my wife, she'll be more of a target…"

"I'm afraid that she's already a target. First of all for being in my family of 'blood traitors,' secondly for being close to you. That's the price to pay for following your conscience and doing what's right. All I'd have to do to make my family safe is to join V-Voldemort. That's all you'd have to do as well. But we can't do that! Do you think Ginny would want a father or a husband who bowed to him? I know she'd rather die than see either of us sacrifice our principles, and I'm sure you know that, too."

"I do, sir."

Arthur smiled. "Good. Now, to other business. If you're really as rich as you say you are, the Order could use certain supplies and equipment. You may wish to speak to Ms. McGonagall about it…

-

Please review.


	15. Plans

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 15 – Plans**

"Harry, my boy," said Mr. Weasley in a friendly voice, "Why don't we go outside and have a little chat?"

Ginny watched her fiancé walk out the door with her father, and then her mother got her attention again.

"I hope you understand dear that we love Harry, and frankly I don't think there is a finer young man out there. This is not about Harry. It's just that you are way too young to think about getting married."

Ginny's ears turned pink as she glared at her mother, "I'm not too young to be attacked and nearly killed by Death Eaters, but I'm too young to be happy?"

Molly jumped back a bit at that, but stood her ground. "I-I'm sorry about what happened yesterday, but that doesn't mean you're ready for marriage. How will he support you? I know he has a decent amount in his vault, but that has to be dwindling down with all he'…."

"What you've seen is only his trust fund vault! He came into his full inheritance now that he is of age, and with all he inherited from his parents, Sirius, and Dumbledore, he's now the richest wizard Gringotts is aware of!"

Molly paled, "Oh, it must be nice to have someone who can spend that much on you, but that doesn't mean you should rush…"

"MOTHER! DON'T YOU DARE ACCUSE ME OF THAT! That's one step away from a prostitute! I thought you knew me better than that!" Ginny yelled, with tears starting to form in her eyes. Ron and Hermione were remaining silent, afraid of upsetting one or both Weasley women.

Molly took a deep breath. "Ginny, I didn't mean it like that! I know you love him. But neither of you have even finished your schooling…"

"Hogwarts is closed!" shouted Ginny. She shrugged and said, "At least we've both taken our O.W.L.s. Ginny sighed. "We talked about waiting until the war is over, but if he asks me, I'll sneak off tonight and elope with him. We are getting married. You just have to accept it."

Molly's face was crimson. "You can't get married without our permission! You're not of age!"

"I can in a few weeks when I turn sixteen! I'll just claim to be pregnant!"

Molly's face changed from crimson to pale in a split second. "You, you can't be. You're not, er, doing that, are you?"

Ginny gave her mother an evil grin. "No, he hasn't asked me, yet, but then tonight is our first night since we got engaged." Ron looked livid while Hermione looked embarrassed.

To Ginny's amusement, Molly was red again, "I ABSOLUTELY FORBID IT! I will not have you two doing that under my roof!"

Ginny shouted, "Harry does have his own roof, actually several roofs, so if we're not welcome here anymore, we do have places to go!"

Molly and Ron looked terrified, while Hermione buried her face in her hands. Ron finally spoke up, "I'll kill him!"

Ginny rounded on her brother, "What for? I already said he hasn't asked me! I'm just making it clear that if my fiancé and I choose to do anything, it'll be our decision! He won't be taking advantage of me, and I'll probably be the one seducing him! Maybe then I'll be allowed to marry him!"

Molly and Ron were speechless, Hermione was embarrassed, and Ginny was determined. Hermione tried to change the subject. "H-Harry said you were probably better protected and armed right now than anybody in England. What did he mean?"

Ginny sighed. "Oh, just a few things we picked up in his vaults." She pulled out her wand and said, "Staff," changing it into a staff, causing them all to gasp. "After seeing how powerful his levitation charm was with his staff, he made me promise not to use it against anybody but Death Eaters or Tom himself. Wand." After she stowed her wand away, she said, "We've also got mithril armor underneath our clothes to protect us from most attacks."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "Mithril? I read about it, but I didn't know any was still in existence!"

"Yes, well, among other things, his vault had two mithril suits and two staffs. He immediately insisted that I take one of each. He does his very best to protect me, and frankly he does it better than you or the Order can." She blushed while making her next statement. "When he found his parents' wedding rings, he dropped down on one knee and proposed. He was so wonderful. And we wanted to celebrate our engagement. Mother, I am happy and in love today. With this war going on, I don't know how many happy days I'll have. Those monsters couldn't even let Harry enjoy his birthday. Couldn't you please let us be happy while we can?"

Tears started slowly falling from Molly's eyes. "I-I don't know what to say." She sighed. "I-I guess if being engaged means that much to you…" At that moment, the door opened, allowing Harry and Arthur inside. Molly continued. "…and you're waiting until the end of the war, I approve."

"Er, actually," said a nervous-looking Arthur, "I advised Harry not to let V-Voldemort control his life. I told him they should set a date and stick to it."

"WHAT!" asked a very livid Molly while glaring at her husband. Ron was also glaring, but he was glaring at Harry.

He saw the look on her face, but went on nervously, "I actually believe that the sooner they do it, the better." He took a deep breath. "I also think that eloping is the best thing they could do, because then the Death Eaters can't plan to make an appearance and ruin everything."

Everyone was now staring at Arthur. Molly started to say, "B-But…"

"I didn't say that last part to Harry, but the truth is, if those people can't resist ruining Harry's birthday, what do you think they'll do for his wedding? I think that once they set a date, it should be a secret until it's time to go."

Both Ginny and Molly looked scandalized. Ginny said, "M-My w-wedding…"

Harry spoke up. "Dad, I completely understand your opinion, and bluntly, if it were just me, I'd do it. But I am not going to ruin Ginny's wedding day. I don't know how we'll do it. We'll have to make special secret plans or something, but when we get married, we'll have a real wedding."

Hermione spoke up, "Maybe you could have it at Hogwarts in the Great Hall."

Ginny brightened up, "Or the Room of Requirement! That'll change to exactly what I want immediately! I could make everything perfect there easily!"

Mrs. Weasley smiled a bit, "We could transfigure the wedding party's clothes."

Harry smiled, "Then we'd only have to arrange the right people to be there at the right time."

Arthur grinned, "Now all that you two have to do is set a date, but I think you should do that privately. Also, make sure to talk to everyone involved in person and not over the floo. That can be monitored."

Harry chuckled, "And don't tell Hagrid until the day of the wedding. All the Death Eaters would have to do is offer him a dragon egg and he'd tell them everything he knows about me."

Molly looked sternly at Harry. "That's not a very nice thing to say, Harry!"

"But Mum," said Harry, completely diffusing Molly's anger, "It's true. He's one of my best friends, but he can't keep a secret to save his life. He told Voldemort how to get past Fluffy so he could get the philosopher's stone for a dragon egg. He didn't know he was betraying Dumbledore, and felt terrible about it, but the damage was done. I don't want Voldemort to know anything about my wedding, so I don't want that information to leave this house. Ginny and I will handle everything."

"Like you handled getting engaged without telling us!" shouted Ron.

"Ronald," said Hermione.

"Is that why you were so keen to have us leave? So you could shag my sister in your precious vaults! Nobody else seemed to notice, but I did! If you're wearing those mithril suits under your clothes, and that means you probably took your clothes off in the vaults! I thought I could trust you with Ginny! She was probably so, I don't know, impressed by your money that she'd do anything to make sure you'd marry her!"

"HOW DARE YOU!" shouted Ginny, while pulling out her wand.

"Ginny, you're not of age," said Harry, pulling out his wand, "Let me." Harry pulled out his wand and without saying a word performed his first ever bat-bogey hex on Ron.

Ron ran upstairs, pursued by his bat bogeys, while Ginny was laughing. Mrs. Weasley said, "Now Harry, that wasn't a very good thing to do to Ron!"

"But mum," said Harry, making Molly blush, "You heard what he said about Ginny! He needs to learn some manners!"

"I'm sure Ron didn't really mean it, Harry," said Hermione.

"How would you feel if I said that about you, Hermione?" asked Harry. When he saw that she wasn't answering him, he said, "If it's wrong for me to talk about my sister like that, then it's wrong for Ron to talk about his sister like that."

Hermione looked into his eyes. "You-You really do think of me as your sister?"

Harry smiled at her. "My wonderful, brilliant, beloved sister who's helped me more times than I could ever repay."

She walked up to Harry and embraced him, and kissed him on his cheek. "I could never ask for a better brother. I, I love you, Harry."

"I love you too, sis," Harry said, while patting her on the back.

They separated and Hermione, with a few teardrops in her eyes, looked from Harry to Ginny. "Congratulations, you two!" she said as she walked over to Ginny, embracing her. When they separated, Hermione said, "Now what are we going to do about Ron?"

-

The three of them walked upstairs, Harry carrying his new trunk, and ignoring Mrs. Weasley pleas to 'go straight to bed,' went to Ron's room. They knocked on the door and got no answer. Then they found that the door was magically locked, but Hermione easily got it open. They found Ron sitting up in his bed looking miserable, but the curse had worn off anyway.

"I can't believe you did that to me, Harry!" said Ron.

"If he hadn't, I would've!" said Ginny.

"But I just…"

"Called my fiancé, your sister, a prostitute!" said Harry. "I'm waiting for you to apologize to her!"

"Apologize? After the stuff she said about you two?" shouted Ron.

"I never said we did! I just said I could claim I was pregnant to get married without mum and dad's permission once I turn sixteen! In fact I said we haven't! It would be none of your business if we did, anyway!" Harry's face was turning pink. He did not know how to respond to this. Should he claim he didn't want to, or that he did want to? He wisely kept silent.

Ron was redder than ever. "Even if you haven't gone all the way, I know you must've done something when you put on that armor of yours!"

Harry knew he could answer this. "No we didn't! We hid behind some of my stuff when we changed!"

Ron said, "I'll bet you've got a lot of stuff, too! But I know you were watching Ginny, probably under that cloak of yours!"

"If he wants to see me naked, all he has to do is ask! He doesn't have to spy on me!" Ginny shouted angrily, causing Ron's face to turn purple, while Harry and Hermione's faces turned pink.

"Er, Gin, love, you're not helping. Ron, I swear I didn't spy on your sister."

"I'm saving us from future arguments, Harry," Ginny said, taking the time to wink at him, which caused his heart to temporarily stop. She turned back to her brother, "Because if we do decide to shag, it's absolutely nobody's business except mine and Harry's! It's nothing for you, Ron, to get upset about! It's not like you think he's gonna rape me!"

Ron sat speechless with a white face for about thirty seconds. Finally he spoke. "So-so you've never, y'know?"

Ginny let out a frustrated scream. "That's not your concern, Ron! In fact, Harry, let's go sleep at Grimmauld place tonight."

"W-What?" said Ron, "You can't just…!"

"It's Harry's house!" shouted Ginny. "If you've cooled off in the morning, come over for our training." Ginny grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him out of the room, while he was still holding his trunk.

Ginny marched back down the stairs pulling Harry with her toward the fireplace. "And just where are you going at this time of night?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"To spend the night at," said Ginny, throwing floo powder into the flames and dragging Harry in with her, "Number Twelve Grimmauld Place!"

-

They arrived to find the house empty. Ginny turned to Harry and said uncertainly, "Er, Harry, you know I love you very much, and, er, I know you love me, er, but I don't really think I'm, y'know, ready for, well, that yet. If it's alright with you, er, I'd like to sleep in separate rooms."

Harry, who'd been silent since Ginny started dragging him, finally spoke. "Th-that's fine Ginny. But why did you…"

"All but say that we were gonna shag tonight?" She smiled. "I want Ron to accept that it's none of his business, so that he'll be used to that when we finally do, whether that's before or after our wedding." She sighed. "He'll be upset that you shagged me if I tell him I'm pregnant a year after we get married! That's just who he is! This way, he's upset now, and we won't have to deal with this issue again." She took a deep breath. "That's one reason I brought you here. The other is that I want to be alone with you."

Harry smiled, but then frowned. "So, you, er, want Ron to think we're shagging."

"Yes," said Ginny, grinning at her fiancé.

"So, er, if he asks me…"

"Tell him it was incredible!" she said with a smirk.

"He'll hit me," said Harry.

"Then hit him back!" she said, chuckling. "I know you can beat him! If that doesn't work, it seems you've learned a new hex to use on him. If that doesn't work, threaten to do the hex with your staff."

"How about if I try telling him it's none of his business?" said Harry.

"He'll still hit you, but he might eventually respect that." Harry chuckled. "Now, I'd like to talk about setting a date."

Harry suddenly looked very serious. "Ginny, I love you now, and I'll love you for the rest of my life. If you'd like, I'll marry you right now. If you insist, we'll wait ten years. That is totally up to you."

She kissed him quickly and said, "That is very sweet of you, but you must have an opinion."

Harry looked down. "Er, I'm caught in two directions. I want to be married to you as soon as possible, but I'm worried about your safety, y'know, being my…"

Ginny glared at him. "DON'T go there! I know the danger, and I already made my choice, and I stand by my decision! If I get killed, then I get killed. It will not be your fault! It'll be Tom's!" Then she smiled at him. "So your vote is as soon as possible."

"Er, yes. If it's just based off of my feelings for you, then absolutely. I don't need a long engagement to decide whether I really love you. I already know."

She grinned at him. "Maybe my birthday would be best."

"Wh-What? You mean in a few weeks?" said Harry

"Yes. Voldemort attacked your friends on your birthday, and he knows that we're dating, so he'll probably attack on my birthday, too. I think it would be best if we weren't any place that Tom might be able to get to. That means here or Hogwarts. I know my mum will definitely approve of our getting married if she thinks we're shagging right now."

Harry sighed. "You're right. Oh God! He's going to attack your family! Where else would he go?"

Ginny actually trembled at that thought. "I-I guess the only other place he might think of going would be the Dursleys."

Harry closed his eyes. "We'll have to kidnap them and bring them to our wedding. I also think that we should look at some of my houses so that we have safe-houses ready. Maybe have McGonagall perform the Fidelius on them, unless there are already enchantments protecting them."

"We should go back to Gringotts tomorrow after our training," said Ginny. "We should also pick up a few more things in Diagon Alley, like that sheath you want for your sword, and maybe some kind of armor for Ron and Hermione. Maybe dragon hide.

-

The next morning, Hermione and an upset-looking Ron flooed to Grimmauld Place, to be greeted by a happily engaged couple. "Good morning," said Harry, as Ron glared at him.

Ron said, "I'm here to train so I can fight V-Voldemort. It doesn't mean I approve…"

"It's none of your business to approve or disapprove of," cut in Ginny. "Hermione, we have some charms and…books…from Harry's vaults that we'd like to show you. One was written by three of the founders…"

Hermione's eyes bulged out as she shrieked, "YOU DO! Why didn't you say so last night?"

"Because believe it or not, Hermione, we thought our engagement was more important," said Harry sarcastically. "There's also a book on the history of the Gryffindor family. By the way, did you bring my sword?"

"Yes," said Hermione.

Harry smiled. "Good, because I've got a matching sword for Ginny, and we found an instructor.

"An instructor?" asked Hermione. "Don't you think that's dangerous?"

"No," said Harry with a grin, "She won't tell. She's here right now if you want to meet her."

"You brought her here?" asked Hermione.

"Don't worry," said Ginny, "He put her in his trunk so she wouldn't know where the house is."

"IN HIS TRUNK!" shouted Hermione, horrified.

Harry and Ginny laughed. "Relax Hermione, it's the portrait of Abigail Gryffindor-Potter," said Ginny. "My sword used to belong to her, so she volunteered to teach us how to use them."

Ron looked down, "There, well, there weren't any other swords in your vaults, er, were there?"

"No," said Harry, pleased that Ron wasn't yelling at him, "No, but if you'd like a sword, I could get you one."

"No, no, that won't be necessary. Never mind," said Ron quickly.

"Ron," said Harry, "If it's for the fight against Voldemort, then it's not charity. It's equipping my group of trained fighters. I'm getting you both some armor to wear under your clothes today. It won't be mithril. It'll probably be dragon hide. I'm also buying a sheath for my sword. I'd be happy to buy you both swords as well. I'm even considering getting a gun if I can persuade someone old enough to get it."

"A what?" asked the two Weasleys together.

"A muggle weapon that propels a projectile bullet at a target," said Hermione.

"Huh?" said Ginny and Ron.

Harry smiled and said, "Basically it does the same thing as sectumsempra, except it puts the hole in you by sending a piece of lead called a bullet through you at an incredible speed."

"Oh," said the Weasleys together.

Hermione said, "I honestly don't know any actual magical defense against getting shot with a bullet. As long as they don't summon the gun away before you shoot them."

"Can't the gun be charmed against summoning spells?" asked Harry.

"Yes," said Hermione cheerfully.

"Maybe I can ask Lupin to get me one," said Harry. "Would any of you like one?" They all nodded, looking a bit nervous, but willing to try any weapon that they could get against Voldemort. "Ok, I'll get four of them, along with a way to hide them properly so they can be used in an emergency."

Hermione beamed at Harry. "That's a great idea!"

"Thanks, sis," said Harry. "You never said if you made any progress at the library yesterday."

Hermione frowned. "A little, but I still don't have an address. I think I should go again, perhaps with you."

Harry looked at her strangely, "With me?"

"Well," said Hermione, "I know you won't let me go alone, and, er, well both Ron and Ginny, well, they…"

"What about us?" the siblings asked together.

"You're too, er, fascinated by the computer, and you, er, slow down my work."

"I slowed down your work?" asked a clearly frustrated Ron.

"Er, yes, you kept asking me about what I was doing and how it worked. You actually were calling attention to us. I mean, it's not your fault. I was just as fascinated by the magical world as you are with the muggle world. But as Harry has said many times, we can't waste our time. People are dying every day. I need to be able to concentrate."

"We'll go there today after our trip to Diagon Alley," said Harry decisively. "For now, we'll show you what we picked up at Gringotts, and then we need to start our workout."

-

Hermione was literally drooling over the books they'd gotten, and decided to skim through the vault contents and Gryffindor history first. They enjoyed meeting Abigail, who agreed to try to teach all four of them. Since the others were getting swords today, Harry and Hermione decided to wait one day for their first sword fighting lesson, so that they'd all be starting together. There were two necklaces that were charmed in such a way that if one was rubbed, the other would light up and allow the wearer to apparate to wherever the other one was. They agreed to make sure that whenever they split up, someone from each group would be wearing one. Since they had a lot to do that day, they skipped reading about the rest of the items and started their training.

-

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	16. Getting Supplies

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. 

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 16 – Getting Supplies**

Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were looking around a magical weapons store in Diagon Alley. Harry was under his cloak to avoid being seen. He'd wanted Ginny to stay under with him, but he wanted to avoid a fight with Ron if possible. Ron was looking at the various swords, while Harry was looking at sheaths. Hermione was looking at types of armor. Ginny was generally looking around and noticed dragon hide boots that magically fit anybody that put them on and had hidden magically enlarged compartments in the heals where small weapons could be stored. After reading the description she realized that the magical enhancements should allow them to fit a knife, a small handgun (according to Harry and Hermione's description), and an extra wand easily into a pair of boots. She looked at Hermione and said, "Come here and look at these."

Harry, under his cloak, followed Hermione and read about the boots. He whispered so that both girls heard, "Buy four pairs."

Hermione agreed and went back to looking at armor while Ginny put the boots into their self-pushing cart. She also picked up four knives that were charmed to resist the summoning charm, always be sharp, and be impossible to break. After Hermione decided what outfits were best for herself and Ron, she joined Ron in looking through the swords. Eventually, both of them settled on which sword they wanted, and ended up with swords very similar to Harry and Ginny's. Harry got himself, as well as Ron and Hermione, sheaths. They then found that the store carried some wands that were made specifically for dueling. Although they weren't specifically for them, after everyone but Harry tested the wands, they concluded that they would be good spares if they really needed them. Although they could do wandless magic, they knew that it might help to have a wand for more complicated spells, or if they were having trouble concentrating in a combat situation.

After Ginny paid for it all out of her new wallet, they all left the store and walked to a private location. "Well," said Hermione, "I guess it's time for Harry and I to go to the library."

"Make sure to take your armor and boots," said Harry. "I'm changing into my boots now. You can put the dragon hide armor on in the loo at the library." Hermione nodded and took the armor, opting to change her shoes immediately. They each put both a knife and wand into the secret compartments of their boots.

"I've got one of the special necklaces on," said Hermione. "Who's got the other one?"

"Me," said Ginny.

Harry smiled. "Good. I guess we'll see you later." He then kissed his fiancé, while Ron kissed Hermione.

-

"I'm ready now, Harry, let's go on the computer," Hermione said to Harry after exiting the bathroom of the library. Harry had insisted that she put on the armor as soon as they got there.

After Hermione signed to use the computer, they went over to one and she began her research. Every few minutes, she'd glance at Harry. Eventually Harry asked, "Hermione, is their something on your mind?"

Her ears turned a bit pink. "Er, well, I was wondering about, well, intimacy." Harry blushed. "I mean, well, you and Ginny seem so in love, and after you left last night, well, Ron and I guessed that you, well, you know. Ron asked me if I wanted to, well, do that, and I told him I wasn't ready. He didn't seem happy about it, but didn't pursue the matter. I was, er, well wondering how you know when you're ready for that. I don't want to be unfair to Ron." By this time Hermione's face was redder than Weasley hair.

Harry looked at Hermione for a minute while contemplating how to answer her. "The first and most important thing is not to let anybody pressure you into that. If you have any doubts at all, don't do it! If Ron tries to insist, hex him."

"Harry!" she whispered back at him.

He looked very sincere. "I'm serious, Hermione. I don't think Ron would pressure you, but if he does, make him regret it. Nobody has the right to your body. Whether you choose to give him that privilege or not is up to you."

She smiled. "Ginny said you never asked her at all. Is that why?"

He continued looking into Hermione's eyes. "Ginny doesn't owe me anything, and I don't want to make her feel like she does."

"Even now when you're engaged?" Hermione asked. "Don't you expect certain things of her? Especially now."

He smiled. "I expect her to remain the wonderful person that she is."

"But now that you've…"

"Hermione, I don't know about other guys, but I've always allowed Ginny to decide how far she wants to go. I think that's the way it should be."

Hermione smiled at him. "She's a lucky girl."

He chuckled quietly. "Lucky to be engaged to Voldemort's mortal enemy? To be forced to wear armor under her clothes because she knows that she's a prime target?"

"Harry," said Hermione, putting one of her hands on his, "She's lucky to have someone who loves her as much as you."

She continued working on the computer for a few more hours until she finally said, "I've got another address, Harry!"

"Great job, Hermione!" said Harry, smiling at her. "You really are the best!"

-

After they printed out the address and directions (and paid for the pages), the two of them left the library and apparated to the outside of the Burrow. They walked inside and found Mrs. Weasley busy in the kitchen working on dinner. She looked sad.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry.

"Mum," said Molly, looking up at him with a half-smile.

Harry smiled at her. "Mum, is there something wrong?"

"Not really, I suppose. I just didn't realize that you and Ginny were actually moving in to your house is all. Ginny told me a few minutes ago, and now she's upstairs packing."

"Oh," said Harry with a neutral expression. He gave Mrs. Weasley a quick kiss on the cheek and said, "I'll just go upstairs and say hello, mum."

He went straight to Ginny's room and found her alone. He closed the door and charmed it to give them privacy. "Hi beautiful," he said as he walked up and quickly kissed her.

She smiled. "Hi Harry."

"Mum told me we're moving to Grimmauld Place."

Her ears turned pink. "Er, I know I should've talked to you first, but as soon as I was alone with Ron, he started getting so overprotective, telling me that I shouldn't have done what I did last night, and I need to stop now. I screamed that it's none of his business, and that I was moving in with you tonight. I'm sorry."

He chuckled. "That's alright with me. We can move there tonight if that's what you want to do."

She put her arms around Harry's neck and looked him in the eyes. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

Harry smiled at her. "I don't know, but it must have been awful."

She slapped his arm lightly. "Why do you always criticize yourself? You're the most wonderful…"

"Someone has to. Besides, you're the one who's wonderful."

She looked at him in mock offense. "Sir, are you trying to seduce me?"

He gave her an evil grin. "Is it working?"

She winked at him. "You're getting closer."

He slightly blushed, and decided to change the subject. "So, do you want to announce our wedding date during dinner?"

She looked into his eyes. "Are you sure you want to?"

Harry put his hands gently on her shoulders and gazed into her chocolate orbs. "I'm positive. I'll marry you anytime, but if you're not sure…"

She grinned at him. "I'm sure. We'll tell them. In the meantime, I've got to finish packing, and I suggest you get started."

-

Supper went by quickly, with Ron trying to take twice what everyone else had. Hermione finished first, and just before she left the table, Harry said, "Sis, could you stay here for a minute?" Hermione settled back down.

Ginny said, "We've, er, settled on a date for the wedding."

All eyes were on them now. Harry said, "Er, August 11th."

"What?" said Mrs. Weasley, "That's Ginny's sixteenth birthday! We were planning…"

"On another Death Eater attack?" suggested Ginny, causing everyone to be quiet. "They attacked on Harry's birthday, and they know I'm dating him. I'm guessing they'll attack that day, too, so we'll need to evacuate the Burrow anyway."

Hermione said sadly, "That may be true. But what's it got to do with your wedding?"

"Well," said Ginny smiling, "I figured that since it needs to be a secret ceremony anyway, this would be the perfect time. The whole family will be at Hogwarts already."

"You'll only be sixteen," said Molly, "I won't sign…"

"Then I'll just keep on living with Harry," said Ginny, looking straight at her mother with a determined look that would scare Voldemort himself.

Molly seemed to deflate at that statement. "Fine, then we've got a wedding to plan and no time to do it."

"Remember, it'll be in the Room of Requirements. It should supply everything we need except people. We're hoping Hermione will be my maid of honor and Ron will be Harry's best man."

The two nodded, although Ron didn't seem to approve entirely. Harry figured that Ron felt his sister was too young. What plans were needed, mainly who was going to invite whom (in person, to keep it secret), were made. Molly and Hermione seemed to be greatly enjoying themselves. Ron gave Harry and Ginny the silent treatment as they made their way to the fireplace with their trunks. Ginny had packed her 'essentials,' planning on taking another load every day until she had all her stuff.

When they arrived, they found that a small Order meeting was taking place. McGonagall, Lupin, Mad-Eye, and Tonks were there. They all looked at Harry in apprehension when he arrived. Harry figured they were remembering the last time he'd interrupted a meeting. He smiled and said, "Carry on. Moony, when you're done, I'd like to talk to you."

Remus said, "Sure, Harry. What are you doing here?"

"We're moving in," said Ginny, causing the Order members to stare at the redhead who'd just arrived. "By the way, if it's alright with you, Ms. McGonagall, Harry and I are getting married at Hogwarts in the Room of Requirement on August 11th. My whole family, as well as Hermione, plan to spend the night before and after at Hogwarts since it's my birthday and the Death Eaters are likely to attack."

McGonagall looked shocked. "Er, if your parents approve, Miss Weasley, I, I have no objections."

Moony looked shocked for a moment, and then a big smile formed on his face. He got up and hugged Harry. "Congratulations, Harry! You too, Ginny!"

Tonks, in the meantime, had run up to Ginny and hugged her, accidentally tripping on the rug and pulling them both to the floor. "Are you two alright?" asked Harry.

"We're fine," said Ginny.

"That's good thinking to have a secret wedding at Hogwarts," said Mad-Eye. "Just let me take care of security! You've got to have constant vigilance!"

-

The Order continued their meeting while Harry and Ginny took their stuff upstairs. "Which room do you want?" asked Harry innocently.

Ginny looked around for a few seconds, appearing nervous. "Er, Harry, I don't think I'm ready for everything yet, but, well, I think I'd like to share the master bedroom with you; to wake up in your arms."

He pulled her into a loving embrace. "Whatever you want, and nothing you don't want."

-

About a half-hour later, they were putting their clothes in the closet when there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" called Harry as he walked toward the door.

"It's Remus. The meeting's over. Everybody else is gone."

Harry opened the door. "Good. We have a favor to ask you, and we need you to keep it a secret."

Remus' eyebrows raised. "You've got my attention."

"We want you to buy four small muggle handguns and a lot of bullets."

"What?" asked Remus.

Ginny said, "All we can say is that they'll be used in the fight against Voldemort. We need a lot of bullets, and I guess targets and whatever else is recommended for training to use them properly. We want to have a few weapons that Tom doesn't know how to fight against."

"I see," said Remus, sitting down on a chair at the desk.

Harry said, "It's not my preferred weapon either. I can say that it'll be a last resort."

Remus took a deep breath. "I guess I'll do it. I suppose it is clever to have something like that. No Death Eater would even know what a gun is."

"Thanks, Moony. How much money do you think you'll need?"

Lupin shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea."

Harry smiled. "You know what. I'm just going to give you a thousand pounds. Buy what we need and give the rest to the Order. Just get us the guns as soon as possible."

Lupin grinned, "That's very generous of you. I'll see what I can do."

-

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	17. Houses

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 17 – Houses**

Ginny woke up to find that her head was lying on something that was rising and falling steadily. She also felt air being blown into her hair. She realized where she was and smiled, leaving her eyes closed. She didn't want to leave this comfortable position.

Harry opened his eyes and felt something on his chest. He saw a mane of beautiful red hair and smiled to himself. He realized he had his right hand on her back and the other at his side. He moved his left hand to join his right and embraced Ginny, while leaning his head forward to kiss her head.

"Ginny," he said softly. He heard some type of moan coming from where her face was and said, "Er, I didn't exactly hear you. It's time to wake up."

The sleeping beauty lifted up her head, keeping her eyes closed, and muttered, "I'm sleeping," and put her head back down on his chest.

Harry chuckled. "You're really cute like that, but you do have to wake up now."

He heard her say, "No," and then rolled over with her so that he was on top.

She opened her eyes and he kissed her quickly and said cheerfully, "Good morning! At least it is for me! I woke up with the most wonderful woman in the world leaning her head on my chest. I'm going to take a shower, and I expect you to be out of bed when I'm finished."

As he left the room, Ginny got a big smile on her face and whispered, "Good morning."

-

A slightly disgruntled-looking Ron came over with Hermione a few minutes after Ginny finished her shower, and they did their normal workout, followed by their new lessons - sword fighting.

The painting of Abigail was hung on the wall in the room they were to practice in, and all four of them were wearing their swords in their sheaths. Abigail spoke, "Ok, I see you've all got your swords. Hopefully you all know which end to hold. The first thing I'll teach you is how to draw your swords."

"All it takes is a parchment, quill, and ink," joked Ron.

"You've just volunteered to demonstrate incorrect sword handling," said the painting, causing Ron to scowl. "Pull your sword out quickly and prepare to fight."

Ron pulled it out clumsily and nearly dropped it on the ground before muttering, "Bloody Hell! That's harder than it looks!"

"Exactly!" said the painting. "That's why I've got to teach you dunderheads…"

The lesson went on for an hour, and by the time it was over, they could all draw their sword properly. They just didn't know what to do with it afterward. When they were done, Hermione said, "I think we should look at the address I found, but not go in there tonight. Perhaps walk through the area under the invisibility cloak."

"I say have two of us under the cloak while the others are close by. That way if something goes wrong, the others might be able to get away," said Harry.

"Or help," said Ginny pointedly. She had a strong feeling that she would be part of the 'safe' team.

Harry sighed, "Or help if you can come up with a sound plan. Otherwise get help."

"Agreed," said Hermione.

-

A quick ride on the Knight Bus, wherein Hermione explained the muggle devices known as seatbelts to the conductor Cho Chang, they found themselves two blocks away from the next possible horcrux location. After much discussion and argument, it was decided that Harry and Hermione would be the ones under the cloak. The mission was simply to watch the house for a little while to see if there's any Death Eater activity there.

"Be careful, both of you," said Ginny.

"Mione, I think I should go instead of you," said Ron.

"We've already discussed this Ronald!" said Hermione coldly, "You agreed that I'm usually more observant than you are, so the only reason you want to go instead of me is because I'm a girl. Harry's letting me go."

"That's because I know better than to get on the wrong side of a powerful witch," Harry said.

Hermione chuckled, "At least you know better. Ron doesn't seem to."

"Fine," said Ron. "Just hurry back."

Harry and Hermione got under the cloak and started walking slowly. When they got to the address, they saw light shining on the inside, and someone walking by the window in wizard robes. Hermione whispered, "Well, I guess that answers our question. There is definitely wizard activity there."

"Can you levitate an extendable ear to the window?" asked Harry as he pulled one out of his pocket. "I'm not sure about my aim."

"Sure," just make sure nobody notices. Hermione pointed her wand at the listening device and floated it along the ground while Harry held his wand at the ready in one hand while the other was ready to throw off the cloak. They both listened intently.

"So we'll be hitting some blood traitors' house on the eleventh, and then some muggles on the twelfth?" said a male voice neither of them recognized.

"Yes," hissed a voice Harry recognized as Bellatrix.

"Why wait until then?"

"Because one of the blood traitors is Potter's tramp, and the eleventh is her birthday! While poor 'ittle harrikins is morning her and the rest of her worthless family, we'll kill his only family – those muggles who raised him," she said happily. "Then his spirit will be so broken that he won't be able to cope anymore." Harry tensed up while they listened, but didn't move.

At that moment, there was a faint pop inside the house, and a sneering voice Harry had vowed to silence said, "Why are you chit-chatting when you should be working? The Dark Lord gave you a job to do!"

"Snape," hissed Harry with venom.

"I hope you at least put up the proper silencing charms before discussing our plans," hissed Snape. After a few seconds he said, "I should have known, you imbeciles! Just because this is a muggle neighborhood doesn't mean no one can spy on us." At that moment, their reception ended, and Hermione carefully floated the extendible ear back to them.

"Well, I guess you were right about the Burrow," said Hermione sadly as they walked back.

-

When they met up with their friends, Harry insisted they apparate back to the Burrow before they discuss what had happened. After they discussed it in Hermione's bedroom (since Ginny wasn't living there anymore and Hermione was using the room, they called it hers), they decided to warn the Weasleys and Dursleys. They went downstairs to dinner.

While the food was being passed around, Harry said loudly, "I found out something important today. I can't tell you how I know, but the Death Eaters are planning to attack the Burrow on Ginny's birthday, and then the Dursleys house the next day."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both dropped their forks. Mr. Weasley asked, "I know you've got your secrets, so I guess all I can ask is if you are absolutely sure of this."

Hermione decided to help. "We both heard actual Death Eaters discussing it."

Molly turned to Hermione. "You heard it as well? What? Are you spying on Death Eaters now? I suppose Ron and Ginny were with you as well in that suicide mission!"

"Actually mum," said Harry, "they knew about the mission but were a safe distance away. Hermione and I were across the street under my invisibility cloak using an extendible ear to listen until Snape showed up and charmed the place so we couldn't hear. We weren't there for the purpose of finding out Death Eater plans for the Order, but given the nature of what we overheard, we thought we should share that information."

"Well," said Mr. Weasley, "I think we should call Minerva about this. It is definitely Order business if members like ourselves are about to be attacked."

-

After they'd flooed McGonagall and she came over and was told what had been overheard, she spoke. "Well, I think we'll need to set a trap at this house. I suggest that you have your wedding a day sooner so that most of the Order will be able to attend and you won't be worried about the attack during the ceremony. The Dursleys, I suppose, will be at Hogwarts for the wedding, but I don't believe that muggles would be very comfortable staying there, and they will have to be moved for a while. Now that they have become targets, they'll stay targets until the end of the war. I'd prefer if they weren't at Order headquarters where they might overhear important information. Does anybody have any suggestions?"

"I do," said Harry. "I've inherited several houses. I haven't checked them out yet as I only found out about them a few days ago, but I'm sure one of them would be acceptable. Tomorrow we'll start looking at them. I may need your help to magically protect the house. We'll have to check it and see what charms are protecting it, and then I'll get them."

-

The next day, the quartet found themselves at Grimmauld Place after their training, looking at the properties listed in Harry's portfolio from Gringotts. Hermione said, "According to this list, there are three house elves attached to the first house alone, not to mention the others! You've got to set them all free today!"

"Hold on, Hermione," said Harry, "Don't you remember how Winky took it when she was set free?"

"Yes, but…"

"Sis, I'll talk to the elves to see how they like working at the houses. I'll even offer them wages, but I'm not gonna throw them out in the street unless they act like Kreacher! If I give them clothes, all they'll do is search for another wizard to enslave them, and he might treat them like Malfoy treated Dobby, that is, if they can find work at all. I doubt Hogwarts is hiring right now."

Hermione sighed sadly, "I guess you've got a point for now. They may even become the property of Death Eaters if you sack them."

-

A quick ride in the Knight Bus, which now had seatbelts, and they found themselves standing in front of a gate that read, 'Potter Manor.' Ron said, "Where is the house? I thought this was the right address."

"It's right here in front of you!" said Harry.

"Where?" asked Hermione with a confused expression on her face.

"Right there!" said Ginny, pointing at the gate.

Harry walked up and touched a gold carving of a stag that was on the left side of the gate. The gate started opening inside, allowing them entrance to the vast estate.

"Wow!" said Ron and Hermione when the gate opened.

"Now we can see it," said Hermione. "I don't think it was the Fidelius Charm on the house, though. I believe that it's simply invisible to non-Potters. It's as though the house is wearing an invisibility cloak that comes off when the gate is opened."

"Then I suggest we walk inside and close the gate so no one spots the house.

All four of them stuck together as they gazed at the property. They saw a greenhouse, along with a small cottage on their left. On their right was a full size quidditch pitch with a nearby broom shed, as well as a pavilion complete with a few picnic tables. The place was extremely well kept. The lawn was perfect. Harry thought to himself that his elves were doing a great job. There was one sidewalk that led straight up to the front door of the huge mansion before them. It appeared to be only two stories tall, but it covered a lot of ground. The outside of the house was a light shade of tan. There was a gold stag's head door knocker on the heavy wooden door. It had a brass handle. Ron ran up, grabbed the handle and shouted, "Hey, it's stuck! The goblins didn't give you a key, did they?"

"Weren't you even listening to Hermione, or were you just looking at her?" said Ginny as she walked up to the door. She put her hand on the stag, and they heard a click. She then easily opened the door and walked in, followed closely by the others.

Almost as soon as the door closed behind them, there were three soft pops as three house elves in elegant burgundy tea towels with an embroidered golden stag appeared in front of them. One was an older male; one was an older female; and one was a young female. They all looked at the strangers. When they saw Harry, all three of them grinned broadly. The older male stepped forward. "Master Harry Potter sir! We is happy to be seeing you! I is being Lomby. Lomby's wife is being Dolly. Lomby and Dolly's daughter is being Loddy. We is happy to serve Master Harry Potter!" He then looked at Ginny. "We is also happy to serve Master Harry Potter's life bonded mate, Mrs. Potter."

"M-My name is Ginny Weasley."

"If Mistress Potter says so, though Lomby is believing that you is Ginny Potter."

"I will be in less than two weeks," said Ginny. "I'm engaged to Harry."

"Lomby sees. You isn't doing the wedding ceremony yet, although you is already magically bonded. Who is the friends of the Potters?"

"I'm sorry," said Harry, "These are my best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."

Dolly said, "We can see that Ron Weasley is being Mistress Potter's brother, therefore a brother to Master Potter. We is also seeing that Master Potter has chosen Hermione Granger as his sister."

Hermione's ears turned pink. She asked, "How can you tell that?"

"House elves is able to see all bonds to our masters. Although only the master of the house and his life-bond is seeing Potter Manor to be entering on their own, unless Master or Mistress Potter is saying otherwise, we is always allowing you entrance when you is standing outside the gate," answered Lomby.

"That's fine," said Harry.

Hermione then squatted down and asked the elves, "Are you happy working here?"

"Yes," said all three at once.

"If you want, Harry can set you free, or pay you wages."

Dolly fainted, Loddy started crying, and Lomby kneeled. "If we is doing anything to offend master, please be telling us or even punishing us. We isn't wanting clothes or wages! We is good house elves. We isn't being bad! We is cleaning the house and grounds and…Oh no! We isn't getting Master and his guests refreshments! It is being all Lomby's fault! Lomby is in charge. Loddy, get refreshments. Hurry. Lomby is punishing himself!" He looked around and found a lamp and grabbed it.

Harry shouted, "Never punish yourself! I'm not sacking you! You're not in trouble. Hermione didn't mean you were bad when she said that. She only wanted to make sure you were happy. Isn't that right?"

Hermione looked pale. "Yes. You're all very, er, good house elves." Ron snorted behind her and she shot a glare at him.

At that moment Loddy appeared with something similar to the snack trolley of the Hogwarts express. It had three bottles of pumpkin juice, butterbeer, iced tea, hot tea, coffee, milk, firewhiskey, and muggle drinks like Pepsi and Coke. It also had every snack you could think of. "Loddy is not knowing what you is wanting, so Loddy is bringing you everything! Loddy is not wanting clothes or pay! Loddy is a good elf."

"Er," said Harry, "Could one of you wake up Dolly?"

-

After the elves had been reassured several times that they weren't getting sacked, Dolly gave a tour of the manor and grounds. The living room they were in was about the size of most houses, and had wood paneling. There was a fairly large wizard painting of a magical creature on each wall. They were a dragon, a unicorn, a phoenix, and a hippogriff. The creatures were flying around inside their own portraits, and were silent. Lomby said, "The creatures used to make noise, but it annoyed Master James, so he silenced them." The carpet on the floor was burgundy, and matched the two couches and recliners that were in the room. There was also a round glass table in the room. It also had a fireplace tall enough to stand up in, and Harry was told how to set up who can floo into the house. The system was set so that if you weren't specifically on that list, you'd wind up in the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace whenever you tried to come. He set that for them and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. He thought about adding Fred and George, but didn't want to let them prank him in his own home. He told Ginny that they'd only have access when they were actually expected to visit. Ginny insisted that he give Bill, Fleur, and Charlie access. He set the apparition wards to allow the same people access.

As the tour continued, they saw a library that Hermione wanted to fully explore. Ron had to almost physically drag her out when Harry said, "We don't have time to explore much today. I promise we'll come back later." They saw a really good dueling room, as well as a room full of muggle exercise equipment. When they saw that, Harry said, "We're gonna start exercising in here tomorrow instead of Grimmauld Place."

They hurried past a lot of rooms because they wanted time to look at other houses. When they came to the master bedroom, Ginny said, "Harry, could we move here?" It was the most comfortable-looking king size bed they'd ever seen. The room had white walls and burgundy carpet. It had a freshly polished wooden desk and two dressers. There was an office chair at the desk that matched the carpet, and an extremely spacious walk-in closet that was bigger than some people's bedroom. It had an attached luxury bathroom that included a huge bathtub almost exactly like the prefect's bath at Hogwarts.

"No you can't!" said Ron.

"I wasn't asking you," said Ginny, sitting on the bed. "This bed is as comfortable as it looks." She then gave Ron an evil grin. "I can't wait to lay down in it with Harry!"

"We can move here if you want, as long as no one knows where it is. This is way too good for the Dursleys. We need to check out other places for them, and I don't mean Gryffindor or Dumbledore's mansion!"

"What about that cottage outside?" asked Hermione.

"That is being out home," said Dolly, "But if master is needing it, we is sleeping outside under the pavilion.

"No," said Harry, "Here's the situation. I've got some muggle relatives that I'm not very fond of who need my protection. I think this house is too good for them. I'm looking for a place for them to live for a while that will be decent but not extravagant."

"Dolly is knowing just the place," she said excitedly. "Dolly is showing Master Harry Potter after Dolly is finishing the tour outside."

They went out the back door to see a nice pond and a forest behind it. Dolly said, "Potter property is ending a mile into the forest. Anyone, muggle or wizard, walking toward it sees a steep mountain and is feeling a great urge to leave. No wizard or witch is being on this property for sixteen years."

After she showed them the front, including the impressive collection of magical plants in the greenhouse, as well as a set of fifteen Nimbus One Thousands in the broom shed (enough for a full game of quidditch including a referee) which greatly impressed Ron, Dolly told them which property to go to, and informed them that Harry and Ginny could floo there, and then Harry could set it to allow whomever he wanted to be able to come there. The security was the same as Potter Manor, but aside from the fireplace, it was a two bedroom muggle home that happened to be invisible to anyone but Harry and Ginny from the outside. Lily Potter had wanted a muggle retreat to go to every now and then when she was homesick, so James had acquired the house and properly charmed it for protection. Harry went there and was impressed that it was a nice place. It was a bit smaller than Privit Drive, but Harry didn't care. It would suffice, and everything was muggle so the Dursleys would be comfortable. Now he just had to get them there. It was set so that the Dursleys could be side-along apparated into the house, so Harry didn't think that would be a problem. He just had to convince the Dursleys that they were in danger.

-

At about five p.m., Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny (in Harry's arms) appeared on Privit Drive under an invisibility cloak and made their way to number twelve. Harry saw his uncle's car was in the driveway, so he knocked. A minute later, the door opened, revealing his rather large uncle. He looked around and shouted, "Who knocked on this bloody door!"

Harry pulled himself out of his cloak and said quickly, "I need to speak to you inside," while Vernon's eyes bulged out as his face turned purple. Harry didn't wait for an answer as he more or less shoved him out of the way before the shock wore off. He was followed by his three allies.

Finally Vernon's shock wore off and he slammed the door shut, shouting, "I THOUGHT WE'D SEEN THE LAST OF YOUR FREAKISHNESS!"

Harry pulled out his wand, which caused Vernon to back up in terror. By now Aunt Petunia and Dudley had come to see what was going on. Petunia shouted, "What are you doing here, freak?"

At that moment, Ginny pulled the cloak off of them and pointed her wand at Petunia. "Don't you dare call him a freak! You're the ones who…"

"That's enough, Ginny!" said Harry. He then turned back to his 'family.' "I'm here to save your lives. I know for a fact that Voldemort is planning on attacking you within the next week or so, and I've arranged a safe place for you to hide. I'm sorry to say, but you are now one of Voldemort's targets because of me."

"I knew you were nothing but trouble the moment you were left on our doorstep!" shouted Vernon.

Harry sighed, "Maybe so, but the point is that if you want to live, you have to come with me. By the way, this is my fiancé Ginny Weasley. We're getting married on the tenth. If you want to come you're invited. If not, that's fine."

"Why would you want to marry that freak?" shouted Dudley, although he was covering his backside. "I could show you what a real…"

"A real whale is like?" asked Ginny, pointing her wand straight at Dudley.

"Ginny," shouted Hermione, "he's not worth it!"

At this point Dudley was scared. He could see murder in Ginny's eyes. He stuttered, "S-S-Sorry," and put his head down.

"That's the smartest thing you ever did, Dudley," said Harry with a smirk, "She can be vicious!" He then turned to his uncle. "So Uncle Vernon, have you decided whether you want to live or die?"

"Are you threatening me?"

"No," said Harry, "but I could. If I wanted to, I could easily torture and kill you all without breaking a sweat and without any help." Vernon paled as he realized that his nephew was telling the truth. "But Voldemort's not going to send just one wizard. He'll probably send a dozen. I know that at least one of them actually participated in torturing a couple into insanity fourteen years ago and they're still insane and at the wizarding hospital. That same witch killed my godfather. She alone could have all three of you writhing on the floor in more pain than you could imagine until you beg for death. I'm not threatening you. I'm just saying that those people are coming here after you, and I'm offering you a way of escape. You learned that you can't escape wizards on my eleventh birthday. If you try to escape on your own, they will find you! The choice is up to you."

He watched his uncle's face go through all the colors of the rainbow until he finally said, "You got us into this mess! You should be the one to get us out of it!"

Harry grinned at his triumph. "Ok, Hermione, apparate Ginny to the manor with the cloak and come right back, and then we'll apparate the Dursleys together." He then looked back at the Dursleys, who now looked terrified. "We'll send someone for your clothes once you're safely at the house. After Ginny and Hermione were gone, Aunt Petunia said, "Y-You're r-really getting married?"

Harry said simply, "Yes. As hard as it may be for you to believe, someone actually loves me."

Before Petunia could respond, Hermione appeared back in the room. Harry took Vernon, Ron took Dudley, and Hermione took Petunia. When they landed in the house, Vernon immediately complained, "It's too small!"

Harry shrugged. "If you'd have been nicer to me, you'd be staying at one of my mansions." He then walked away from them and shouted, "Dolly!"

The elf appeared in front of him. "Master is calling Dolly?"

"Master," shouted Vernon, "So you've got slaves now, you freak!"

"Shut up, Uncle Vernon!" shouted Harry, before turning back to Dolly. "Thank you for coming Dolly. If it's not too much trouble, could you go to Number Four Privit Drive and take all the clothes and food out of there and bring them here. Aunt Petunia can put it where she wants it. And then could you make sure to come here every Monday at ten a.m. to get a grocery list from Aunt Petunia for what they need, and then bring me the list? If they want to talk to me, relay the message. Otherwise don't do anything they ask. They are not your masters."

"Yes, master Harry Potter. Dolly is going now!" She disappeared.

Harry then said, "You're going to have to stay inside the house. I'm going to make sure you can't leave, because if you do, you might be found. Ron and Hermione, could you help me secure every door and window?"

-

A few minutes later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione appeared inside Potter Manor. "Well it took you long enough, didn't it?" said Ginny when they arrived.

"You should've taken my suggestion and explored the library if you were bored," said Hermione.

"I wasn't really bored," said Ginny with a smirk, "I've been busy. I just sent Loddy to get Harry and my stuff moved here tonight."

"You could've done that yourself!" said Hermione, clearly frustrated, "It's bad enough the way Harry sent Dolly to get the Dursley's things! Even if you can't free them, you could at least stop taking advantage of them!"

"Pardon me Miss Grangey," Lomby interrupted, "but you is insulting Master and Mistress! We is happy to be serving Master, and it would be a disgrace for our Master to be running errands like that for himself while we is knowing about it. We couldn't be living with the shame. We has been so long without a master that we is excited to have things to do again!"

Hermione threw her hands in the air frustrated, and got up. "I'll be in the library," she said as she walked off."

Harry turned to Lomby. "You'll have to learn to tolerate Hermione, Lomby. She honestly just wants to help house elves. She feels that you're not treated fairly and wants to do something about it. When she gets like that, it's only because she cares about your rights."

Lomby put his head down. "Lomby is a bad house elf. Lomby is insulting Master's friend. But when she is saying master is treating us bad, Lomby can't help himself. Lomby is needing to be punished."

Harry squatted down. "Lomby, you don't need to be punished, but I would prefer if you don't try to defend me when I'm talking to one of my friends. I think it would be good if you tried to be friends with Hermione, and try to help her understand what house elves really want and need so that she can better help you, but first, could you get us some dinner? You can talk to Hermione when you bring her plate to the library."

"Yes, Master Harry Potter. What is you and your friends wanting?"

-

Hermione was sitting in a wooden chair with dark green padding at a wooden table in the library with her nose buried in a thick book. The carpet was dark green and the wall was a light shade of tan. Lomby appeared next to her with a small pop, levitating a tray with a plate of spaghetti and a bottle of butterbeer. "Master Harry is asking Lomby to be bringing Miss Hermione dinner."

She marked her book and closed it. "Lomby, you shouldn't have to do Harry's or anybody else's bidding. Don't you see that it's slavery? You're being used."

"Miss," said Lomby, "Master Harry is telling Lomby that Miss is only wanting to be helping house elves. Lomby is sorry Lomby is interrupting Miss earlier while Miss is talking with Master. But house elves is wanting to serve a family. We is happy to be serving any good wizard, but serving the great wizard Harry Potter is making us even happier. We is hating serving bad wizards that is punishing us all the time and is treating us like vermin. If you is wishing to help house elves, then Lomby is thinking that stopping bad wizards from punishing us would be helping, not freeing us."

She looked at him thoughtfully. "I-I'll think about what you said, and I will take dinner. I am hungry. Thank you Lomby."

-

Dolly returned while Harry, Ron, and Ginny were eating their spaghetti in the dining room sitting at an antique wooden table with matching chairs. "Hello, Dolly," said Harry when he noticed her presence.

"Hello, Master. Dolly is taking all the Dursleys clothes and food to them. Dolly also is having a message from Master's Aunt Petunia, saying she'd like to attend Master Harry's wedding."

"Really?" said Harry. "That's a surprise."

"Well you are her nephew, Harry," said Ginny. "Maybe that does mean something to her."

"Master," said Dolly, "Dolly is curious about why Master is having Dolly giving Master the Dursley's grocery lift. Dolly can be getting all the Dursleys is asking for."

Harry chuckled. "I just want to make sure they don't go overboard. I want to make sure they don't demand stuff that's more expensive than they'd buy themselves. I'll look at their list and then tell you what to give them. That reminds me, I'd better tell McGonagall I've got them and that she needs to take care of Uncle Vernon's work."

-

A few hours later, after Hermione and Ron left (Ron didn't want to leave Ginny there but Hermione made him) with instructions to come back to the mansion for their workout, Harry made his way to the master bedroom. He opened the door to find Ginny already there, wearing a light blue bathrobe. Her hair was wet. He surmised that she'd just taken a shower. "Hi Ginny," he said. "You look beautiful."

"Hi Harry," she said, and kissed him quickly. "You showed a lot more kindness today than the Dursleys deserve."

He took a deep breath. "Maybe, but the fact is that if it weren't for me, they wouldn't be in danger."

"With the way they've treated you, I'd think that if Tom got them, you'd send him a thank you note and dance on their graves."

Harry smiled. "Believe me, I thought about that. But I just can't let them be killed when I can prevent it. Must be that 'saving people' thing Hermione talks about."

"Not many people could have done what you did for them. You reminded me of why I love you so much tonight."

Harry smiled, "Well I love you too. I'm gonna take a shower and go to bed." He kissed her and walked toward his dresser, quickly finding the pajamas that had been placed there.

-

While Harry was in the shower, Ginny was putting on a nightgown, thinking about what a wonderful person her fiancé really was. She felt a slight bit of shame as she remembered how she wanted to hex Dudley for his stupid comment. She also thought about how Harry had been treating her. He was always thoughtful and treated her with respect. He had yet to try seducing her, even though she'd been sleeping with him. Part of her hoped he would, while most of her was grateful that he'd honored her wishes. 'It's always about what I want,' she thought to herself remorsefully. 'When's the last time I tried to do something for Harry?'

-

Harry walked back in the bedroom to find Ginny lying on the bed wearing nothing but her knickers and bra. He was surprised that his eyes hadn't broken his glasses as they bulged out. "G-G-Ginny?" he stuttered. "Why aren't you in a nightgown?"

She wagged her eyebrows at him. "Don't you like what you see?"

Harry swallowed. Judging by his hormonal reaction, he knew he liked what he saw and could prove it! He nodded his head. "Uh-huh."

"Then come over here. I'm no less dressed than I am in a bikini. I just thought I'd give you a little eye candy. I would, by the way, appreciate it if you'd remove your shirt so that I have something to look at." She looked at the bulge in the front of his pajama bottoms, blushed, and said, "You should probably keep your pajama bottoms on." He stood there shirtless for about a minute before Ginny called, "Come to bed."

"I don't think I should. I don't think I'll be able to sleep."

She once again looked at the proof that he was attracted to her and smirked, making a decision to do something some of the girls in her dorm at Hogwarts had done for their boyfriends. "I might be able to help you with your problem."

-

The next day, while the quartet was exercising at Potter Manor, a brown owl flew into an open window of the room and straight to Harry. It simply said,

"_Meet me at Snuffle's old place at noon._

_Moony_."

He showed the letter around. "I guess Remus knows we moved out."

"I guess so," said Ginny.

"That reminds me, we need to decide where the Grangers and Weasleys are gonna stay."

Ginny said, "There's plenty of room here, but I don't know how comfortable my parents, or Ron for that matter," Ron shot her a quick glare, "will react to our sharing a bedroom in the house with them. I don't really want any trouble, and you do have other houses."

"We could just give them the choice of staying at Grimmauld Place or here, with the stipulation that Ginny and I share the master bedroom and don't want to hear one word against it," said Harry. "I don't feel like exploring any other mansions until I've fully explored this one. There is plenty of room here."

-

The quartet arrived just in time at Grimmauld Place, and found Lupin waiting for them with a box. "Hi guys, can we talk in private?"

After they went to a bedroom and secured the door, Remus said, "I got what you asked for, along with a book on how to use the guns. Just don't ask where I got them from."

Harry grinned at his former professor. "Thanks! Can I see them?"

Remus opened the box and showed them the guns, along with ammo, targets, and safety gear for training. Harry picked one up and got it to fit perfectly in the compartment in his boot. He then took it out. "We're going to keep them loaded and in our boots, and tonight we're gonna start practicing with them so that we'll know how to use them."

-

They then went to the Burrow for lunch and discussed housing arrangements. It was decided that as Order members, Arthur and Molly would live at headquarters. Ron, Hermione, and Mr. and Mrs. Granger would stay at Potter Manor. The house elves were summoned to move their stuff, and Harry apparated to Potter Manor first to adjust the security system to allow the Grangers entrance. Once they were there, they were thoroughly impressed. Mr. Granger offhandedly said, "Hermione, why couldn't you have gotten Harry instead of Ron?" He was joking but Ron heard him. Fortunately, Hermione managed to stop Ron from doing anything stupid. Then she told off her father for saying that. He apologized and assured Ron that it was only a joke. The Grangers were warned to never go into the dueling room because they could accidentally get hurt. Abigail's portrait was now hanging in that room, and when she saw them preparing to use their new weapons she asked, "Are those muggle guns you've got?"

"Yes, Grandma," said Harry.

"What do you need them for? You've got wands, staffs, and swords."

He grinned at the portrait. "Honestly, it's just a last resort. We can use a gun when our magic's gone and our body's broken, and it'll still kill our enemies."

After their first pathetic attempt at target practice, Harry said, "I think we're aiming this as if it were a wand. We need to try aiming higher." By the end of an hour, they were at least hitting the target. "We've improved a lot, but we'll need to be better than this before we go out on a mission."

The week flew by quickly. True to Harry's prediction, the Dursleys had tried to get some expensive food they'd never buy. Ron had gotten Harry, Ginny, and Hermione to play quidditch a few times, and even got them to spend an hour swimming in the pond. Ron didn't say a word about Harry and Ginny sharing a room, although he never seemed happy about it, especially when Hermione refused to share a room with him when he suggested it (not within earshot of Hermione's parents) saying that she was nowhere near ready for that.

"But Harry and Ginny do," said Ron, "Why can't we?"

"You may recall that it was Ginny's idea to start sharing a bedroom with Harry! He never once tried to pressure her like you're pressuring me!" Tears started falling from her eyes as she continued. "I thought you cared about what I want! I guess I was wrong!" She then stormed into her bedroom and slammed the door.

Harry heard the door slam and then Ron hurrying down the hallway and slamming his own door. He took a deep breath and walked up to Hermione's door.

After he'd knocked, he heard Hermione's unsteady voice shout, "Go away, Ron!"

"It's not Ron, sis. It's me, Harry. Can I come in?"

He saw the door glow for a second, and then she said, "Come in."

He opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind him. He saw Hermione sitting at a desk with a book facing away from him. He could hear that she was sobbing. "What can I help you with?" she said in an effort to sound cheerful.

"Hermione, why are you pretending to be happy? I heard you slam the door, and I can hear you crying. I want to help," he said as he walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Oh," said Hermione, "It's just Ron. Don't worry about it."

"Sis, I thought you confided in me. I thought we were family."

She sighed and got up. She turned around, revealing her tear-stained face and put her arms around Harry and cried into his shoulder. He returned the embrace and let her cry as long as she wanted to, until she finally said, "I don't think Ron even cares about me at all. I think I'm just a body to him. He wanted to share the bedroom with me and I told him I'm not anywhere close to ready for that. He yelled that you and Ginny do, as though that proved that I should."

Harry sighed. "You did the right thing by not giving in, but I do think he cares about you. He's just, er, emotionally and hormonally driven."

Hermione sniffed, "And you're not? You're a teenage boy/man too, but you never pushed Ginny."

Harry answered, "Aside from the problems I had in fifth year, which one of us, Ron or I, has been more emotionally driven and prone to say or do stupid things we don't mean?"

Hermione chuckled, "That would definitely be Ron."

"I'm sure he'll realize what he's acting like and apologize."

"I hope so," said Hermione.

-

The next morning Harry walked downstairs to find Ron sitting at the table eating food that one of the house elves had obviously brought to him.

He sat down next to his first friend and said, "Good morning."

Ron scowled at him. "I guess it is for you."

Harry decided to drop all pleasantries. "Fine. I talked to Hermione last night, and you're lucky I didn't beat you up afterwards!"

Ron's eyes went wide and his ears went pink, but he still yelled back. "You were probably too busy with Ginny to bother with that!"

"That's none of your business, Ron!"

"Mine and Hermione's relationship is none of your business!"

"It is when you start pressuring her!" Harry yelled. "If you're mad at Hermione for not sleeping with you when she's not ready, what kind of man does that make you? You convinced her last night that you don't care about her at all, that she's just some body you thought you could have fun with! That all you're worried about is what you want!"

Ron was gonna argue, but then paled as he seemed to realize the truth of that statement. He hung his head down for a few seconds before saying, "You're right. She must think I'm a rapist! I'd better apologize."

-

Finally they had improved their skills both with guns and swords so that they wouldn't look like complete idiots against the Death Eaters. They had no intention to stop training, but knew that most of the people they would face had absolutely no training in anything besides wand fighting. On August eighth, Harry felt they were familiar enough with their equipment to visit the Death Eater house.

As last time, they used an extendable ear to try and hear what was going on, but this time they heard nothing, so they realized Snape had taught them their lesson. They snuck around the house and found a locked back door that alohamora didn't work with, so Harry decided to be less stealthful. He turned his wand into a staff, and had Ginny do the same. The plan was for him and Ginny, the best duelers, to storm in there with Ron and Hermione slowly following behind underneath the cloak in case they ran into problems. They would take out every Death Eater in the house and then search it for horcruxes. Harry and Ginny together threw powerful reductos at the door, smashing it inside, and started running, putting up their shields. They saw that the door had smashed into one enemy, killing him. Another was pointing her wand at Harry, who shot a nonverbal stunner that sent her flying hard into the wall. Harry wasn't sure if she was alive or not.

As they hurried into a hallway, they heard a scream of, "we're under attack," coming from behind a door. Harry blasted the door off its hinges with his staff and Ginny petrified the two people in there before they could react.

Down the hall they heard someone scream, "It's Potter and his whore!" so Harry sent a wide shot at him, stunning him.

Finally, someone hit Harry in the chest with a curse that did nothing but burn a hole in his shirt and reveal his armor. Harry shouted, "You ruined my favorite shirt!" as he blasted the guy against the wall."

Harry blasted another door off its hinges, revealing a man with an ugly snear, greasy black hair, and black robes. He had his wand out and said calmly, "Come in, Potter."

"Snape! It's time to pay for what you did to Dumbledore!" Harry rushed into the room, pointing his staff at Snape. He crossed the door's threshold and fell, dropping his staff. Snape pointed his wand at the doorway quickly, making it flash green.

"Ah, Miss Weasley, I'm afraid you won't be able to join me, but I'm sure you'll enjoy watching your pathetic boyfriend's capture! The ward that I'd had on the doorway completely drains all of the victim's magic and weakens them so that they can't physically fight either."

"But you took an unbreakable vow…" said Harry while moving his hand slowly toward his boots.

"…to not harm you. I haven't. The Dark Lord knows I can't be present while he deals with you because of that stupid vow the old man made me take. I hope he chooses to share the pensieve memory of your execution."

"But Snape," shouted Ginny, hoping to keep the git distracted while Harry got his gun, "You know what will happen to Harry, so you are breaking your vow." Harry was opening the correct compartment and reaching the gun.

"Silly girl," sneered Snape, "I will be merely tossing a portkey at him, like s…"

BANG!

Snape fell backwards onto the ground, staring at the muggle device in Harry's hand, realizing that he'd dropped his wand and portkey in the shock of being shot. He looked down at his bleeding chest. Everything was going dark for Dumbledore's killer. "H-how?" he asked.

Harry, still very weak but pointing the gun at his adversary, said, "The Half-Blood Prince has lost half his blood."

Those were the last words Snape ever heard. Harry decided to take Snape's wand as a souvenir. He knew that Death Eater wouldn't need it anymore. With the caster's death, the spell warding the door fell. They searched the small house, but didn't find any more Death Eaters or horcruxes. On a hunch, Harry tried using the horcrux detection spell with his staff, and it scanned about twenty feet in front of him, a much larger range than with a wand. They gathered up the living Death Eaters to give to the aurors and left quickly. Harry was secretly disappointed that Bellatrix wasn't there. It seemed to be all new recruits there except for Snape.

That night, Harry had felt a bit sickened by what he'd done to Snape, but Ginny and the others kept telling him, "You had no choice! It was either that or be captured and killed by Voldemort!"

Ginny added, "That was justice and self-defense, not murder."

The next few days passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was the day that Harry and Ginny would marry.

-

Please review. Thanks to all who have done so.


	18. Harry's Wedding Day

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. 

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 18 – Harry's Wedding Day**

Harry woke up in the very comfortable bed at Potter Manor, with Ginny's head resting on his chest. He silently wondered how he'd ever managed to sleep without her. 'Well,' he thought to himself, 'hopefully after today I never will.' He looked at his fiancé's head and said, "Ginny…Ginny…Ginny, you need to wake up."

"Mmmslllppn," she eloquently declared without moving.

"I can't marry you love, unless you wake up," he chuckled.

"I suppose not," she said, lifting up her head to look at the man she loved as she yawned.

Harry grinned. "No, your family would never understand why you didn't show up. We need to get dressed quickly and floo to Hogwarts. McGonagall said we can shower and dress at Hogwarts so that we're not full of floo powder at our wedding. I'm sure Hermione and her parents will already be up and ready to go. They'll want to help you get ready. Your mum should be going there soon, too. I've got to pick up Aunt Petunia."

-

Twenty minutes later, Harry appeared in the living room of the house the Dursleys were staying in. He saw his Aunt sitting at a table wearing a nice dress waiting for him.

"Hello Harry," she said, looking down uncomfortably.

"Hello Aunt Petunia," he responded. "Are you comfortable here?"

"Oh, it's alright. Dudley spends all his time playing video games in his room since he can't go outside, and Vernon has been watching television in our room."

"What have you been doing?"

She took a deep breath. "Oh, after I spent a few days organizing the house, I've spent a lot of time cooking and cleaning, but it does get boring."

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "If there's something I can send here to help you pass the time, let me know."

"I wasn't sure you would. I know you've rejected some of my requests for elaborate dinners." Harry looked down, appearing uncomfortable. "I guess I can't blame you. You were already too skinny and I gave you a tiny quarter of a grapefruit for breakfast. Even when Dudley wasn't dieting, we pretty much kept you on bread and water. I-I want to thank you for taking us in at all. It-It's more than we deserve."

Harry shifted his feet on the floor for a few seconds. "Are you coming alone or are Uncle Vernon or Dudley coming?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I'm coming alone. No matter how bored they are here, I'm afraid they don't want to go to a magical school; they don't want to meet magical people; and they don't want to be at your wedding. You may notice that they made it a point to not be in this room now. Vernon is actually a bit mad at me for wanting to come."

Harry sighed. "Th-thank you for coming. Are you ready to go?"

She looked up at him for the first time. Harry noticed that her eyes were red and she appeared to have been crying. "Y-Yes I'm ready to go. Y-Your mother would have been very proud of you, Harry. I-I wish she were here. Let's go."

Harry, although shocked about how Petunia spoke of his mother, took his aunt's hand and escorted her to the fireplace, and they flooed into Hogwarts. Harry scourgified her when they arrived and then headed for a shower.

-

An hour later, Harry was inside a room adjusting the bowtie on the muggle tuxedo he'd transfigured out of a set of Dudley's old clothes. The wedding was to be a mixture of muggle and wizard traditions. Besides, Harry always thought that muggle clothes looked better than wizard robes. Harry and Ginny had removed their rings for use in the wedding, and Harry believed Ron had them. There was a knock on the door. "Come in," he said.

The door opened to reveal Hermione, wearing a periwinkle blue gown similar to what she wore at the Yule Ball. She was wearing a big smile on her face as she took a step forward. "Ginny's almost ready and she suggested that I help you and Ron get ready. I've just left him in the other room. Let me help you with your tie."

"Sure Hermione," Harry grinned at his sister-by-choice. "Maybe you can help me get my hair properly combed for the first time in my life."

The brunette chuckled. "Sorry Harry. I'm afraid I don't know any spells that can do that." She sighed. "It's hard to believe you're getting married. I remember the time we met on the train."

Harry chuckled. "You were looking for Neville's toad."

She grinned. "Who would've guessed all the adventures we would have together after that day."

"Yeah, starting with fighting a mountain troll."

"I've never told you how much your friendship has meant to me, Harry," Hermione said. "When Ron said I didn't have any friends that day, I cried because it was true. I really never had any friends before that happened. It really meant a lot to me the way you and Ron came after me and fought that troll."

"It was the least we could do," said Harry simply. "Besides, we'd have never made it through six years at Hogwarts if we hadn't, and I wouldn't have a sister."

Hermione hugged him tightly for a second, and then released him. "Oh no. I've wrinkled your clothes." She then performed a spell on him, and the wrinkles disappeared. She then pinned a flower to his suit coat. "The ceremony will be starting in just fifteen minutes.

-

A few minutes later, Harry found himself walking through the door that had been left open in the room of requirement. He looked around and realized that he was in a duplicate of the back yard of the Burrow, set up almost exactly the way it had been for Bill's wedding. He saw a lot of people, mostly Order members, already gathered inside and sitting down. He looked toward the front, where there was a raised platform, and saw the elderly wizard who had officiated at Bill and Fleur's wedding standing near Ron and the groomsmen –Bill, Charlie, and Neville. Percy had been invited to the wedding by Mr. Weasley, but refused to come. Based off of how mad every Weasley was when they found out he was missing yet another family wedding, he thought Percy may want to go into hiding from his family. The twins, after taking a wizard's oath to not make any pranks occur during the ceremony, were asked to be ushers. Harry walked up to the officiator and shook his hand. "Hello sir. I'd like to thank you for coming here on such short notice."

The wizened old man smiled and said, "Anything for Harry Potter," causing Harry's ears to turn pink. He hated using his fame, but apparently it could be helpful sometimes.

Harry then talked to his groomsmen briefly, starting with Bill. Both he and Charlie gave him warnings not to mistreat Ginny, which he took in stride. Since he had no intention to mistreat Ginny anyway, he wasn't too worried about it.

He then walked up to Neville, shaking his hand. "Thanks for agreeing to be a groomsman at such short notice, Neville. It means a lot to me."

"I-I'm happy to, Harry. I-I was surprised you asked me, though."

Harry looked at him like he was crazy. "Why wouldn't I? Who went with me to the Department of Mysteries? Who helped when Hogwarts was attacked? You. I'm sorry that I don't show it much, but I know that you are a faithful and trustworthy friend who has been there when I've needed you." He took a deep breath while Neville's ears went pink. "I have a lot of respect for you."

He finally walked up to Ron. "Did I ever tell you that you were the first friend I ever had? I know you have some reservations about my relationship with your sister, but I'm thankful that you're here as my best man."

Ron's ears turned pink. "Er, well, I never had a problem with you dating or even marrying Ginny. "I, er, felt that things moved a bit fast. I'm happy for you two, and I'm glad you're getting married. Now that you're joining the family, mum will stop treating you better than the rest of us."

Harry was then told where to stand, and within a few minutes, the ceremony began with music playing. He was barely listening to it as he waited to see his bride. He knew that Hermione was the Maid of Honor and that the bridesmaids were Luna, Fleur, and Gabrielle. That was the entire wedding party.

Harry knew he'd never remember the exact gown Ginny was wearing that day, but he knew he'd never forget how she looked. He watched her gracefully walk up the aisle with her father, wearing a thin veil over her face. After Arthur Weasley had given her hand to Harry, he looked into her chocolate orbs through the veil as they held hands. Fleur sang a love song that Harry wasn't really listening to. He was getting nervous about what he knew was coming next. Finally, he heard the words. "Harry and Ginny have opted to say their own vows. Harry will go first."

Harry nervously cleared his throat as he looked in Ginny's eyes. "Ginny, when I first met you, I didn't see you as anything but a little girl. I remember feeling flattered that you'd had a crush on me, and slightly amused at the ways that it would show itself." He took a deep breath. "I watched you grow up into a beautiful young woman before my eyes, and yet I was too blind to see it for such a long time. When everyone else was afraid to get me angry, you weren't afraid. You confronted me, reminding me that of everyone I know, you were the one who understood what I was going through, and showed me what a strong person you are. You gained my respect that day, and truly became one of my friends. After that, you helped me break the rules of Hogwarts, and told me that Fred and George had taught you to believe that anything is possible. You showed me that you believed in me when you came with me on a dangerous mission. It was just a few months later that I realized I was falling in love with you."

He took another deep breath and continued. "The only problem I had then was that someone else had realized how wonderful you are before I did and you were dating him. I can't tell you how jealous I was last year when you were with him, and I found myself wishing that you would break up with him so that I could ask you out. Then one night, I drank some lucky potion so that I could do something that had nothing to do with you, but while I was leaving the Gryffindor common room under my invisibility cloak, I accidentally bumped into you, starting the argument that wound up breaking up your relationship with the other guy." Ginny looked surprised, and then he saw her smile.

Harry continued with tears in his eyes. "I'll never forget the first time we kissed in that same room. It was like all my dreams I ever had were fulfilled. Those weeks before tragedy struck were the happiest I'd ever had in my life." Harry sighed. "I'll never forgive myself for breaking up with you. I did it for reasons that I thought were right, but I know that I hurt you. I'll never understand why you took me back. I know you saw that my worst fear was losing you, and that I needed you, but I didn't deserve for you to take me back. Instead of telling me that, you told me…that you loved me. No one had ever said that to me before." He didn't notice his Aunt Petunia crying in her seat, hanging her head down in shame at that statement. "I-I can't tell you how much you've meant to me." A few tears escaped his wet eyes as he continued to gaze into hers. "I love you more than I could ever say. I-I want to spend the rest of my life trying to show you how much I love you, and I'll do my best to never hurt you again."

By this time, Ginny, as well as several others, including Hermione and Mrs. Weasley, were openly crying. After a few seconds, without waiting to be asked, Ginny took a deep breath and began her speech.

"Harry, the first time I saw you, you were a cute, polite, scared little boy alone at the train station, asking my mum how to get onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters. When I found out you were the famous Harry Potter that I'd heard about all my life, I couldn't believe it. You weren't acting like a great hero from a storybook. You just seemed like a normal boy on his way to a new school. However, when I started reading the very few letters that Ron sent home…" Ron softly cleared his throat at this statement. "…about how you and he had become friends, my opinion immediately changed. He told of how you'd fought a mountain troll, and how you'd become the youngest seeker in a century, and how you'd done so many other things until you finally went through a magical obstacle course and beaten Voldemort again. I was so jealous of your adventures and developed such a crush on you that I couldn't even talk in front of you. But when you came to my house that summer, you were still the humble, polite boy that I'd met briefly the year before. I was so embarrassed at what a fool I'd make of myself, but you were always polite and nice to me. I remember how embarrassed you seemed when we went to Gringotts and we saw how much money you had in that one vault. Most people I knew that had money liked to flaunt it, but you acted like it was something to be ashamed of. You didn't want my family to feel bad about not having as much money as you. I remember how surprised I was when you gave me the set of Lockhart's books that he'd given you after dragging you next to him for a publicity photo. Then Draco Malfoy came up and taunted you, saying how much you liked the attention." She smiled. "That was the first time I talked in front of you, telling him to leave you alone. I should've hexed him. You've never wanted to be famous. Draco called me your girlfriend then. I remember blushing and wishing it were true."

She took a deep breath. "I spent half that year watching you, and the other half writing in that bloody diary about you. I don't think I've ever properly thanked you for risking your life to save mine, and never even thinking about a reward. I truly believed I was going to die. When I woke up and saw you there, I felt like the princess who had been saved by her knight in shining armor. I was so afraid of what you'd think of me after that. No matter what Professor Dumbledore said, I felt responsible for what happened. But you didn't treat me any differently. In some ways I was glad, but in other ways, I was disappointed. In the fairy tales I'd read where the princess is saved, she and the knight got married and lived happily ever after."

Ginny took a deep breath and continued. "As the years went by, I realized that you really don't see yourself as a great hero, and that when you're not on an adventure, you really are a normal boy with the same problems as everybody else. I lost my crush on the Boy-Who-Lived, and began falling in love with the real you. Of course I realized that someone as extraordinary as you would never fall in love with someone like me, so I tried to suppress that, dating other boys. I guess my last boyfriend was a complete mistake. If I hadn't gone out with him, we'd have been together several months sooner. I'll never forget when I started to notice that you were starting to notice me. At first I thought it was my imagination, wishful thinking. When you kissed me for the first time, in front of all those people, I thought I was dreaming. Those first weeks we were together, I was living my fantasy!"

Ginny's face saddened a bit. "After…what happened…I just knew you would break up with me. That didn't make it any easier. My childhood fantasy of being the Boy-Who-Lived's girlfriend was over. I acted confident that you'd come back to me, but I wasn't. When I heard what that boggart was telling you, I couldn't believe it. You loved me. I knew it was the truth because boggarts never lie, so it gave me the confidence to tell you that I love you."

She smiled. "Since we got back together, life hasn't entirely been a childhood fantasy, but I wouldn't trade one moment with you for all the gold in Gringotts…" She then smirked. "…most of which belongs to you anyway. I also wouldn't trade this for our first weeks together, because now I'm not just your girlfriend in good times. I've been your companion in hard times, and you've been mine. I vow to always be your companion and to love you unconditionally for as long as I live, and to do my best to be worthy of the love you've given me."

Another song was sung, and they exchanged rings as a spell was cast upon the couple that caused them to glow white for about fifteen seconds when the rings were put on their fingers. Then they were pronounced husband and wife.

There was a half hour break before the reception was to begin, so everybody was cleared out of the room of requirement, walking past the wedding party and shaking their hands. Harry was hugged by Ron, Arthur, Molly, Luna, Hermione, Minerva McGonagall (which surprised him a bit), and finally Aunt Petunia. She was crying as she started apologizing for the way she and her family had treated him as Harry led her to a nearby room, away from everybody. "When you said that Ginny was the first person to ever tell you they loved you, I realized that we never gave you the love that every child deserves. I'm so sorry! I failed you. I failed Lily! How could I have been so mad at my sister that I treated her son like a disgusting slave? I am such a terrible person! Why didn't you just kill us yourself instead of relocate us? That's what we deserve, what I deserve!" Harry awkwardly patted her back as Ginny approached from behind Harry.

"What's done is done, Mrs. Dursley," said Ginny Potter, "What's important is what you're gonna do now. I know Harry wants you in his life."

Mrs. Dursley, with tears streaming down her face, looked at her nephew's bride. "Call me Petunia. Actually, there're a lot of names you could call me that would be appropriate, none of which are flattering."

"The past is gone, Aunt Petunia," said Harry, releasing her from the embrace. "We can't spend our lives regretting what we did wrong. We just have to go on from here. I do want you in my life."

"We both do," said Ginny.

Petunia looked once again at Ginny. "I must say that you are beautiful. You remind me of Lily on her wedding day. Harry of course looks just like his father did except for his eyes. You, on the other hand, don't really look that much like Lily except for your hair, but there's something about you that makes me think of her. I think it's the way you look at Harry. The love I can see in your eyes for him can't be expressed in three words. I want to thank you for loving him like that."

Ginny blushed. "I can't help it."

"By the way, while you were making your vows, you mentioned adventures Harry had at Hogwarts. I'd love to hear about them some time."

-

They went back to Room of Requirement a little while later where, at Harry and Ginny's insistence, Petunia joined them at the family table. She found herself sitting next to Mrs. Weasley, who started glaring for a minute at Petunia until Ginny gave her a threatening look. Petunia noticed and put her head down. "I-I can imagine what you all must think of me, and you'd all be right. I don't deserve to be here at all, let alone at this table. Mrs. Weasley, from what I understand, you've been the mother for Harry that I should have been, and I thank you for that. I have no excuse for how I acted toward Harry, except that I was a fool. If you'd be more comfortable without me here, I'll leave so that a better person than me can sit here."

"Aunt Petunia, you're not leaving," said Harry.

"Of course not," said Molly kindly, softening up to the repentant woman, "You're Harry's family, so you should be here."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. I'd like to learn all about the life that my nephew has lived in your world."

"It's Molly. I know Harry won't like me saying so, but he is the most extraordinary young man I have ever met. I remember…" While Harry blushed, much to Ginny's, Hermione's and Ron's amusement, Molly told all about how he'd helped degnome the garden his first day at the Burrow, and how he'd accidentally flooed to Knockturn Alley. She talked about how he and Ron had stolen the flying car (which the Dursleys did receive a letter about, to which they'd responded that Harry should be expelled), and how he'd saved the lives of three different Weasleys, and many other stories. Then Ron and Hermione started talking about things he'd done at Hogwarts that Mrs. Weasley never found out about, which caused Harry to put his head down while Ginny giggled.

It was late in the afternoon when Harry directed Petunia how to travel by floo, both to the house she was living in, and to Potter Manor, giving her a hug goodbye. He and Ginny then flooed back home. Harry set the security system to allow Aunt Petunia to floo inside. They were about to go into the master bedroom (and put silencing and locking charms on the door) with instructions to not be disturbed unless Voldemort himself came to the house when they heard someone fall out of the fireplace. They went back and found Petunia lying face down on the floor. Harry and Ginny ran to her when they heard her sobbing. They gently turned her around and Harry received a shock. His Aunt had a black eye and was bleeding from what appeared to be a broken nose.

Harry asked, "What happened?"

Petunia coughed as she sobbed. "I-I told Vernon we were wrong about you and he…he got mad."

Ginny watched her husband's expression change from concern to rage in half a second. He said, "Ginny, take care of Aunt Petunia. I'll be right back." He pulled out his wand as he stood up, ignoring protests from both women.

-

Vernon Dursley was furious with his wife as he glared at the fireplace she'd escaped in. How DARE she go to that FREAK's wedding, and then defend that freak! Then to top it off, she left using one of that FREAK's methods! He heard a small pop behind him and turned around to see the most frightening thing he'd ever seen. Harry Potter was glaring at him with more hatred than Vernon had ever seen. He was pointing his wand straight at Vernon, who swallowed hard just before he felt himself lifted off the ground by the freak's unnaturalness.

"WHO THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE BEATING AUNT PETUNIA!" Harry shouted as his uncle was thrown roughly against the wall. "YOU BLOODY COWARD! YOU ONLY LIKE TO PICK ON PEOPLE WHO CAN'T FIGHT BACK!" Vernon was now being hit into the ceiling as he cried out in pain. He was starting to bleed from some cuts he'd received. By this time Dudley had heard the noise and was silently watching the exchange. "I OUGHT TO PACK YOU IN A TRUNK AND MAIL YOU TO VOLDEMORT MYSELF! DO YOU KNOW YOU BROKE HER NOSE YOU WORTHLESS WHALE!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH, HARRY!" came Ginny's voice from behind him. She'd flooed there as soon as she got an elf to take care of Petunia.

"Stay out of this Ginny! I've got a score to settle with this wife-beater!"

"I'M NOT STAYING OUT OF THIS! I DON'T WANT MY HUSBAND TO SPEND HIS WEDDING NIGHT IN AZKABAN! Set him down and come home with me." He felt her hands touch his shoulders as his uncle watched in terror.

Harry felt himself involuntarily relax. Without saying a word, he set Vernon down roughly on the floor and turned toward his wife, taking a deep breath. "Fine. We'll go home." He turned toward Ginny to put his arms around her so they could apparate.

Before they disappeared, Dudley timidly came out and said, "Er, could you take me where mum is? I-I want to see if she's alright."

Harry looked at his wife, who nodded. "I'll have to set the security system to let you in. I'll be right back." They disappeared with a pop. When Harry returned a few minutes later, Vernon was still on the floor, glaring at Harry and Dudley, but smart enough to keep his mouth shut. He only had a few bruises and cuts from what Harry had done. There was also a wet spot on the front of Vernon's trousers. Harry grabbed Dudley's hand and they went to the manor.

-

Dudley's eyes went wide as saucers as he looked around at the mansion he found himself in. "Th-this is yours?"

"Yes Dudley," said Harry. "Ginny, where is Aunt Petunia?"

"I told Dolly to put her in one of the bedrooms."

-

Once they located her, Dudley ran up to her saying, "Mummy? Are you alright?"

Her nose was now healed, but the black eye and a few bruises were still on her as she lay. "I'm fine Dudley."

"Why did dad do it?" asked Dudley.

"Because I told him that we were wrong in the way we treated Harry."

Dudley looked bewildered. "But, but he deserv…"

"What did Harry ever do to you that made him deserve to be beat up?"

Dudley looked like he was doing something Harry had never seen him do before – thinking. "He…er…he didn't belong. You said so."

"I know I said so, but what did Harry do to you to make you hate him?"

"He sent a snake at me," said Dudley.

"After you'd shoved me down, and that was an accident," said Harry. "I didn't know I could do magic yet. But you'd beaten me up tons of times before then, and all I'd done is make your breakfast. It was your hobby, like beating up other little kids for their money is now."

"Dudley! Is that true?" asked Petunia.

"No mum…"

"I've seen him at it," said Harry stubbornly. "I know you've never believed me over Dudley, but it's true anyway."

Petunia looked from Dudley to Harry with a horrified expression on her face. "How-how long has he been doing that?" Petunia asked Harry.

"Since the summer before my fifth year, when he learned boxing. He and his gang would find little kids and beat them up. That's what he'd just been doing when he was attacked by a dementor."

Petunia started crying. "Not only did I fail with Harry, but I failed with Dudley as well. Son, we've got to get you help."

Dudley looked livid. His face was now red. "I do NOT need help! Those kids don't need all that money! I should have it! I wouldn't beat them up if they'd just give it to me! They're just little freaks anyway! I'm going back to dad!" He turned around and stormed out, followed by Harry, who apparated him away without saying a word.

Petunia cried to Ginny, who was still in the room. "Why? Why does he feel that way?"

Ginny looked at Petunia with pity and a bit of anger. "You taught him that he was better than everyone else, and that it was all right to beat up defenseless people like Harry used to be. And you turned a blind eye to everything Dudley did wrong. Harry told me that there were many reports from his school about him beating up kids there, but you ignored them all. That's why. Hopefully he'll be able to realize he has a problem and change like you have some day."

"It is my fault," sobbed Petunia.

"Well," said Harry, who just came back, "Dudley's back with Uncle Vernon."

"I-I not only failed you, but I failed Dudley as well!" said Petunia as she turned toward her nephew. "How can you ever forgive me?"

Harry took her hand in his and smiled at his mother's sister. "I already have. Now just concentrate on getting some sleep. Goodnight."

Harry turned and walked out of the room in time to hear Ron and Hermione apparating her parents into the house. He was still frustrated over the situation and didn't want to explain it, so instead of greeting them, he and Ginny quickly went to their bedroom where they were expected to be anyway. Just before they closed the door, he heard Hermione saying something to Petunia.

When they were in the room, Harry started pacing around after charming the door for privacy. "I can't believe Uncle Vernon would do that to her! He never hit Aunt Petunia before!"

Ginny thought his wording was interesting. "He never hit her? Did he hit you?" Harry stopped in his tracks at that question. The look on his face was the only answer Ginny needed. She walked up to him and gently placed her hands on his shoulders. "Let me help you forget all about that tonight."

-

The next day, Harry found himself at the Burrow. He and almost the entire Order were there, disillusioned so that they couldn't be seen. He'd tried to talk Ginny out of coming, but stopped when she threatened to hex him. McGonagall had conjured four dummies with red hair inside the house. Harry was guarding the one that was supposed to be Ginny. He was with the half of the Order that was guarding the inside. The plan was to let the Death Eaters in the house and then surround them. Harry looked at his watch to see that it was 9:05. They'd been waiting for about an hour. He could think of better ways to spend his wife's birthday, but he knew this had to be done.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when the door swung open and a woman shouted, "Crucio!"

He watched as the curse hit what was supposed to be Ginny, and turned to see who'd just tried to torture his wife. It was Bellatrix. He pointed his staff at her and thought, 'Reducto.' She was hit in the chest by the powerful blast and thrown into the wall. He could tell that she was dying from her injuries as blood came from her mouth. "Who-who did that?" she asked.

He summoned her wand and walked to the other side of the room where she was at and said, "Harry Potter," as he snapped her wand. She didn't see him, but heard his voice just before she died. A moment later, he heard the noises of a battle just outside, so he went out to join. He saw the floor full of Death Eaters that already were down, some dead, some stunned. He saw others desperately looking for their attackers to no avail. He joined in and stunned a few, but the fact is that the enemy was outnumbered and outclassed. They had been counting on the element of surprise. 'Surprise definitely was part of this attack,' Harry mused to himself. 'Only it was the Death Eaters who were surprised.'

-

Please review. Thanks for all the reviews I've gotten so far.


	19. Ginny's Birthday

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 19 – Ginny's Birthday**

About a minute after the smartest Death Eaters portkeyed away, Harry, still invisible, looked around for any trace of enemies. He saw Mad-Eye Moody appear nearby, with his magical eye spinning in circles, looking up and down as he said, "All clear!"

Harry waited thirty seconds to make sure no one would attack the Order before making himself visible, and happily noted that Ginny had done the same thing. He was also happy to note that she was uninjured. "Ginny!" he called out.

"Harry," she said as she turned toward him. She flung her arms around him and kissed him, earning a few catcalls.

He heard Ron's voice say, "Get a room!" and then, "Ouch!"

Harry and Ginny separated to see Ron standing next to Hermione, rubbing his shoulder, and surmised that the brunette had smacked him.

Ginny said with a smirk, "I was just thanking Harry. How many husbands take their wives Death Eater hunting on their birthday?"

"This wasn't for your birthday. It was for our honeymoon," he replied, chuckling. "By the way, I got Bellatrix."

"May she rest in pieces," said Tonks, who was standing nearby, sternly. "Now Sirius can rest in peace."

Harry shook his head. "There's a rat we have to get before then."

"Wormtail," said Lupin with a slight growl. He then smiled at Harry and Ginny, who were now holding hands. "Look, I don't think there's any reason you two, or Ron and Hermione, need to stay here for the cleanup. Happy birthday, Ginny. Happy honeymoon, both of you."

"Well, if you insist," said Ginny with a smile.

"I do," said Mr. Weasley, who'd walked up while Lupin was speaking. "Honey, it's your birthday, and you shouldn't spend it cleaning up a house you no longer live at. Go home. We'll be there tonight for your surprise party."

"Ha ha," said Ginny, "as if my husband could keep anything a secret from me. Besides, now-a-days it's not good to surprise people. We're liable to hex first and ask questions later. I'll see you later daddy. I love you." She then hugged him tightly.

"I love you too, sweetheart," Arthur said as he returned the embrace.

-

A few minutes later, Harry, holding Ginny tightly to him, appeared in the master bedroom of Potter Manor. Ginny looked around and then looked at Harry with a smirk. "Er, Harry, I see you decided to save us the trouble of running up the stairs," she said as she put her arms behind his hair to pull him down for a kiss.

Harry's face turned red. "Er, that's not why I….I mean it's your birthday – if that's what you want I've got no objections…but I just thought you might want to take a shower after that mission."

"Well," she said blushing, "I guess we can start by taking a shower." She then backed up slightly and started unbuttoning Harry's shirt with one hand while she pointed her wand at the door.

-

In the meantime, Ron and Hermione appeared in the living room. Ron looked around and said, "I thought Harry and Ginny were coming here too."

At that moment, Loddy appeared in front of them blushing. "Master and Mistress Potter is being in Potter Manor, but they is not to be disturbed. Is Ronald Weasley or Hermione Granger needing any refreshments?"

Ron's ears turned red. "Not to be disturbed! Don't tell me they're shagging again!"

"Ronald!" said Hermione. "I thought you'd be happy that they're married now so no one can call your sister a 'scarlet woman.' What do you think you'll be doing the day after you get married, playing chess? I'll be surprised if we see them at all until her birthday party."

Ron then looked at Hermione with an expression he hoped was romantic. "I guess that means we have the rest of the house to ourselves."

"Not exactly," said the voice of Mr. Granger from behind them.

Ron and Hermione turned to see her parents, as well as Petunia Dursley, standing by the doorway to the kitchen watching them with grinning at them as their faces turned pink.

Loddy walked toward the kitchen, in between the two groups, and repeated her original question. "Is Ronald Weasley or Hermione Granger needing any refreshments?"

-

After they'd gotten some iced tea from Loddy, Ron and Hermione told the older people about the battle.

Aunt Petunia paled, "Those are the people that were going to attack my house?"

Hermione answered, "Yes, although I'm sure Voldemort will send more to your house tomorrow. That was his plan."

"I guess he won't be happy when he finds out about what happened today," said Mr. Granger.

"I guess not," said Ron.

"It's a good thing Harry is with Ginny," said Hermione thoughtfully. He can sense it when Voldemort is really angry through his scar. Harry sometimes even has dreams of what he's doing, although it hasn't happened for a while."

"And wakes up screaming?" asked Petunia, looking ready to cry.

"Yes," said Hermione stiffly, "he has had those dreams in your home, and I'm sure he's had regular nightmares there too." Hermione knew Harry and Ginny had accepted Petunia into this household, but still didn't really like the woman who used to treat Harry like a house elf.

"About someone named Cedric?" asked a trembling Petunia.

"Probably," said Ron, "At the end of our fourth year, Harry saw Cedric Diggory murdered in front of him."

Petunia started crying. "I don't know how many times that summer I heard him scream that name but just pretended to be asleep."

"By the time he escaped your house, he was mad at everyone. He even yelled at Ron and me."

Petunia, still crying, said, "I-I guess that's what he considered it – escaping us. I can't change what I've done, but I can change the future. Will you please give me a chance?"

Hermione gazed into Petunia's eyes and saw sorrow, regret, and sincerity. She took a deep breath. "Since Harry has forgiven you, I guess we should too."

"Thank you. I, er, was hoping that you could take me into London. I'd like to file for a divorce."

Hermione frowned, and then shrugged. "If that's what you want. I certainly understand. I know where you can get a solicitor. I'm wearing my emergency necklace. I believe Ginny has the other, although…" she said with a smirk, "I can't guarantee she's wearing it right now. I don't believe that Death Eaters will be looking for us there, so it shouldn't be dangerous. I'll disguise Ron and myself with a few glamour charms to make sure we're not recognized, just in case."

-

A few hours later, a very happy-looking Harry and Ginny came walking down the stairs. They walked into the kitchen and started to make sandwiches before Lomby appeared and stopped them, completing the sandwiches himself (and making them much more elaborate than the newlyweds had originally planned).

"Thank you, Lomby. It looks delicious," said Ginny when he was finished making them.

"Tis nothing Mistress Potter. And Lomby is wishing you is having a very happy birthday."

"Thank you Lomby. I am!"

Harry was looking around, thinking that the place was too quiet. "Lomby, where is everybody?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Grangey is having lunch outside under the pavilion. Ron Wheezey, Hermeeney Grangey, and Petuney Dursey is being away. I is not knowing where, but is thinking the Grangeys is knowing."

Harry tensed up until Ginny put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure they're fine. I've got the emergency necklace on. Hermione's got the other one. If they were in trouble, I'm sure she'd have activated hers."

"I just don't like not knowing where they are," he said.

"Then why don't we take these sandwiches and some drinks out to the pavilion and join Hermione's parents for lunch. Then we can ask them."

Lomby spoke up, "Lomby is taking the sandwiches and drinks to the pavilion. What is you wanting to drink?"

-

A few minutes later, Harry and Ginny were walking hand-in-hand to the pavilion, where they saw Mr. and Mrs. Granger watching them. "Hello," Mrs. Granger called out, "Happy birthday, Ginny!"

"Thanks!" said Ginny happily.

"Hi," said Harry, "I hope we're not intruding."

"No, of course not," said Mr. Granger. "Besides, Lomby told us you were coming when he brought your food here."

"So," said Harry as he sat down, "Do you know where Ron, Hermione, and Aunt Petunia are?"

Both parents looked down. "Er," said Mrs. Granger, "They took Petunia to London to file for divorce."

"Divorce?" repeated a surprised Harry. "I didn't want to cause…"

"Don't you DARE blame yourself for that!" yelled Ginny, causing the Grangers to flinch. "You're not the one who beat Petunia the first time she ever disagreed with you! Vernon is! What would you expect me to do if you ever did that to me?"

"Cruciatus curse…with your staff?" suggested Harry. "That would probably make Voldemort's cruciatus curse feel like a tickling charm."

She looked like she was thinking about it. "Nah, I'd end up in Azkaban for it, but yes, I would curse you badly, but then I'd file for divorce. Petunia can't defend herself against Vernon though, but you've already cursed him anyway. My mum once told me, before I was dating you, that once a man crosses that line and abuses his wife or girlfriend, he will do it again and again as long as she's stupid enough to take him back. Apparently your aunt is not that stupid."

"I suppose not." He took a deep breath and then decided to change the subject. "So, do you want to start planning a surprise birthday party for Hermione next month?"

-

The group was well into the planning phases for that party when Ginny said, "Shhh. They're coming!"

Harry shouted toward them, "Hey Aunt Petunia, Ron, Hermione. How'd things go in London? Any trouble?"

"No," said Hermione quickly, motioning Harry to help his aunt while Petunia looked down and sniffled. "We weren't seen by any Death Eaters."

Harry got up and walked to his aunt, and put his arms around her. She hugged her nephew back as she began crying into his shoulder while Ginny put an arm around Petunia's shoulders.

-

They stayed like that for a while, after which Harry mentioned that they left without telling him. After Hermione said he was "otherwise occupied" he blushed and dropped the subject. The young people then went swimming in the pond for about an hour, and then washed up before the party. About a half hour before it was to begin, Harry finally set the security to let Fred and George (along with Neville, Luna, Gabrielle, Tonks, and Remus) floo in. He'd warned them not to try until twenty minutes early.

People started arriving soon after. All the Weasleys except Percy (including Fleur), who Ginny didn't bother to invite, came. Tonks, Remus, Neville, Luna, and Gabrielle also came. Ginny hugged everyone who came. Once everybody was there the room went dark, and a cake with chocolate frosting and sixteen lit candles came floating into the living room, followed by three house elves. The cake stopped right in front of Ginny at the perfect height while Dolly the elf said, "We is thinking that Mistress Potter's cake should be eaten first before her presents. Now Mistress Potter, you is to be wishing for something."

Ginny looked into Harry's eyes, "I have everything I ever wished for on any birthday I've ever had. There aren't that many things left to wish for." She closed her eyes and silently wished for the war to end with nobody in that room being injured or killed while she took a deep breath, and then she blew on the candles until they all went out.

While everyone was clapping for her, the elves relit the room and had the cake separate into slices for everyone, the first going to the birthday girl, who proceeded to stuff it into her husband's mouth quite messily. Everyone laughed at the spectacle of the 'Chosen One' with a face full of cake. He heard a camera and looked to see a grinning George Weasley holding one. When Harry got his slice, he tried to get revenge, but Ginny ducked in time, which caused the slice to end up in Arthur Weasley's face. He heard the camera again as he tried muttering an apology which was interrupted by Arthur attempting to get Harry with his slice. He ducked and the cake ended up in Mrs. Granger's face. A full-blown food fight ensued, and Harry instructed his elves to keep supplying food while Ginny laughed as she heard him.

In the end, everyone was covered with food. Harry had even managed to get ice cream in Ginny's face. They disappeared into the kitchen where he happily removed it. After the food fight was over, everybody scourgified each other, and the elves brought out another cake, which they actually ate. Following that, Ginny received a present from everybody, which included a bag of tricks from the twins that she was instructed to use on Harry. She didn't know whether she'd follow those instructions or not. There were after all, other potential victims in the house, and it may be more fun to have Harry help her prank the others. She decided to wait until she felt someone deserved a good prank.

Ginny received a beautiful six-inch-tall porcelain sculpture of a unicorn from Petunia. She got a large container of her favorite perfume from Hermione. She got some chocolate frogs from Ron. Harry gave her a wizarding photo showing him on one knee proposing to her. When she asked how he got the picture, he said, "I put the memory in my pensieve and took my camera inside it. If you want, we can make a whole album that way."

Ginny kissed him quickly. "I think I'd like that."

-

The rest of the day went by perfectly until Harry and Ginny were both asleep in the master bedroom. Harry was dreaming about Ginny until he found himself in a dark room glaring at an incompetent coward who had fled from the Burrow attack and dared to report failure.

"Why did you wait so long to report this to me?" he hissed at the sniveling man on his knees.

"M-M-My lord. I know how y-y-you feel about failure."

Harry sneered, "Then why did you come at all, you worthless fool?"

"B-B-Because I know I can't hide from you."

'Well,' he thought, 'Perhaps he's not as stupid as he looks.' "That is wise," he hissed at the man. "You have saved yourself from much pain by coming to me." He then pointed his wand at the man and shouted, "Avada Kadavra!"

-

"Harry, HARRY!" Harry opened up his eyes to see Ginny looking down on him with concern, tears flowing down her face. Harry instinctively put his right hand over his hurting scar. "You've just had one of your Tom dreams, haven't you?"

Harry nodded his head at his wife. "He's upset about his failure at the Burrow. I think he's losing his occlumency control he's been practicing since the Department of Mysteries."

Ginny half-smiled. "Well, he's probably worried. He's been losing a lot lately, and that's something he's not used to."

-

Please review. Thanks to all who have.


	20. To Kill A Rat

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 20 – To Kill a Rat**

Despite Harry's nightmare the night before, he insisted that he be present at Number Four Privit Drive the next day, and was smart enough not to suggest that Ginny or Hermione stay behind. However, Ron did suggest just that at breakfast.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN FIGHT DEATH EATERS BETTER THAN ME!" shouted Ginny. "STAFF!" Her wand, which had been pointing at Ron, now became a staff. She then calmly said, "I challenge you to a duel. If you win, I'll stay here and twiddle my thumbs."

Ron however looked terrified as that staff pointed at him. He'd seen her fight with it before and didn't want to be the recipient of Ginny's first pterodactyl-bogey hex. His ears, face, and even hands were pink when he said, "Er, never mind. But Hermione doesn't have a staff, so…"

"So you want to duel me?" said an angry brunette calmly as she pointed her wand at him. "The loser has to stay home."

"Er, you're not getting the point at all! Neither of you. It's just, these can be dangerous. Right Harry?"

Harry put his hands up. "Don't involve me in this! I'm going to apparate away now."

"Not without me," said Ginny as she got up and put her arms around him. He took them to his childhood 'home,' and waited for about thirty seconds, until Ron and Hermione appeared, still arguing.

"I let you go to the Burrow yesterday," shouted Ron, "I thought you'd be happy!"

"Let me? As if you could…."

"SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!" shouted Mad-Eye. "If you can't be quiet, then go back home because you'll give away our whole operation!"

Both of them shut up after that, and they were all assigned their positions. A few minutes later, Harry was in Dudley's main bedroom disillusioned. He was looking at the dummy they'd put in the room for the Death Eaters to attack. He was holding his staff at the ready, waiting and wondering if there really would be an attack. Moody had mentioned that Voldemort might have changed his plans after his failure the day before. Harry wished that he'd heard what the plans were when he'd had his dream, but he hadn't.

He started thinking about why he even had a Voldemort dream last night. He hadn't had one for over a year, since Voldemort started practicing Occlumency against him. From what he knew about that particular skill, concentration and a well-ordered mind were required. He wondered if Ginny was right, that all his failures had been making him lose his concentration. He also wondered if it could have something to do with the Horcruxes. Either he found out that more have been destroyed and was worried, or that his mind was affected by the fact that so few were left, or if the simple fact that his soul was so badly split made him subject to mental disorders.

Harry was still deep in thought when he heard a crash downstairs. He got instantly on full alert, pointing his staff directly at the doorway and waited. He listened to spells being fired until he heard Ginny's voice scream something from Vernon's room. He couldn't make out what she'd said, but then he heard a squeaky voice screaming louder than people subjected to the cruciatus curse. He started to walk toward the doorway with the intention of checking on Ginny when he saw a man with a destroyed nose that had been split open from the inside-out running from flying bogeys the size of hippogriffs, and then heard Ginny's voice shouting, "Reducto," which tore Wormtail's torso off his legs. The torso landed in the doorway right in front of Harry.

Harry couldn't help but shout, "You were willing to cut off your hand for your master, what's wrong with adding your legs? I spared your pathetic life, and you ran off and brought Voldemort back! Not only that, but you took my blood!" Harry was feeling as much rage as he had on his birthday as he looked at the little man responsible for so many deaths. "If you hadn't gone after Voldemort, he'd still be powerless in Albania! Every death since you started helping him is your fault!"

Peter looked around in horror as he shook from the pain. "H-Harry? Is that you?"

Instead of saying, "Yes," the raven-haired man shouted, "This is for my dad!" as Wormtail's silver hand was blown off his arm.

"HARRY POTTER'S IN HERE!" Pettigrew shouted through his pain.

"This is for my mum!" he shouted as Peter's other hand was separated from his body. Harry didn't even hear the sounds of others being hexed and falling down the stairs. "And this is for…"

"Harry," shouted Lupin's voice, "The rat is going to die anyway, slowly like he deserves. Don't ease his pain."

"Re-Remus?" said Pettigrew as he bled on the floor. "You've got to help m…uhh."

"That was for betraying the Marauders!" shouted Remus after kicking the man who caused so many deaths. "You cut off your own finger and then your hand in Voldemort's service. It's only fitting that you die without hands or feet. I hope there's a special Hell for you!"

At that point Wormtail began having spasms from his injuries and loss of blood. Harry couldn't believe that he he actually pitied the pathetic heap that lay before him whimpering in his pain. He remembered Voldemort letting Wormtail keep bleeding in the cemetary. At that moment, Harry made his decision. He pulled his sword out of its sheath and said, "Remus, get away from Wormtail's body. I'm going to end his suffering." He then got close to Peter, aimed his sword, and stabbed.

-

The rest of the mission went by in a blur for Harry. He was glad to find out that no one but Death Eaters were killed, and that none of his friends (or wife) was injured. When he got back to Potter Manor, he asked Hermione how the Horcrux search was going, to which she replied, "I'm having problems finding the next address. We'll need to go back to the library."

"We should go to a different one," said Harry nonchalantly, doing his best to concentrate on anything else but Peter Pettigrew, "Or disguised."

"Disguised," said Hermione, "I know my way around there."

"Then we'll go after lunch," he said without emotion.

"Harry, what's wrong?" said Ginny, who'd been listening. "You've been very unemotional ever since Peter…you know."

"I lost my temper. I blasted off his hands and then stabbed him."

"I blasted off his feet, after giving him my staff's version of the bat bogey hex" said Ginny.

"But he was helpless when I…"

"He was responsible for so much death! Your parents, those muggles. He's the reason Sirius went to Azkaban and why Tom got a new body! He's the one who killed Cedric and sliced your arm! It's only natural that you'd lose your temper! I know I lost mine when I thought about all the years my family took care of him! We should've known he was no good when Percy brought him into the house! I even cleaned up after him a few times! He deserved a worse death then he got!"

"I still need to learn to control my temper. I can't afford to attack in anger. I could end up like Riddle."

-

After spending several hours in the library, Hermione exclaimed, "Of course!" and the she brought her voice down to a whisper, "It's the only explanation as to why everything is missing the same information, Harry."

"What is it?" he asked.

Hermione looked very concerned as she whispered at Harry, "The next house is under the Fidelius Charm."

-

Please review.


	21. A New Plan

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 21 – A New Plan**

"FID…" shouted Harry before Hermione shushed him. He then whispered, "Fidelius? That's just perfect. I'll bet that's where it is, too! We should be glad all of them weren't under it."

Hermione said, "I guess so. I think we should leave now so we can discuss it freely."

-

"DAMN!" shouted Ron and Ginny together.

"Watch your language, both of you!" said Hermione. "We've got to think this through. Voldemort got past the Fidelius Charm when it was protecting your family, Harry."

"That's because that rat betrayed us!" shouted Harry, "and finally got what was coming to him today!"

"Exactly," said Hermione, "We just need to find his Secret-Keeper. Who do you think Voldemort would use?"

"Tom trusts no one. He is an expert at betrayal," said Ginny.

"But he trusted Lucius Malfoy with one of them," said Ron.

"But this one is his last, the most well protected," said Harry, "He wouldn't risk betrayal by anyone! I think he's his own Secret-Keeper!"

"Then what can we do?" said Ron.

"Use our heads!" said Hermione, "There's got to be an answer!"

They sat in silence for a few minutes until Harry spoke. "I remember what we did in second year when we wanted to trick Malfoy into telling us something. We'll have to do something like that again."

Hermione looked worried. "But do you think we should risk it. I mean, this isn't a few Slytherins we're talking about…"

"Do we have a choice, Mione?" asked Ron.

"Would someone please include me in this conversation?" said Ginny frustratedly.

Harry's ears turned pink. "Oh, um, I'm sorry, love. Er, when everyone though I was the Heir of Slytherin, we thought it might be Malfoy. So, Hermione made Polyjuice Potion and, er, Ron and I impersonated Crabbe and Goyle and snuck to the Slytherin common room to question him. We barely got out of there before changing back." He said it quickly, hoping it wouldn't bother Ginny to hear about their investigation into that particular matter.

She turned to Hermione. "You made Polyjuice Potion when you were a second year?" Hermione nodded. "How? How'd you get the instructions or ingredients?"

Hermione blushed, "Well, I tricked Lockhart into giving me permission to go into the restricted section of the library for the instructions, and, er, nicked the ingredients from Snape's office while Harry made a diversion."

She looked at Harry and started smiling. "Let me guess, the swelling solution on half the Slytherins in your class." Harry started chuckling, reminiscing about the 'Good Old Days' when a basilisk was loose at Hogwarts because of a Horcrux. Ginny giggled at her husband. "You threw the firework into Goyle's cauldron! I heard about that, but no one knew who'd done it!" She started laughing, along with everyone. "I should have known! You were the only ones who were in that class who didn't talk about it!" she said in between laughs. When they'd stopped laughing about it Ginny asked, "So Hermione, why didn't you go? I thought you joined them on every mission."

Hermione's face went red. "I, er, had a small problem."

Both Ron and Harry started laughing as Hermione hid her face in her hands. "Cat…hair…potion," Harry managed to say.

Ginny tried to decipher what her husband said. She looked at Hermione, who was still hiding her head in shame. "No. You didn't," she said while starting to giggle. "You were in the hospital wing for a while. You used cat hairs in Polyjuice?" She started laughing.

Hermione said indignantly. "It's not funny. I took hairs off Millicent Bulstrode's robes when I wrestled her at the dueling club. They turned out to be cat hairs."

"She even had a tail," Ron said while laughing.

"Anyway!" said Hermione, trying to take control, "I think the idea of using Polyjuice is the best one we can come up with, but it'll be very risky. Whoever does it will need to carry a flask of some sort to keep drinking until they escape. They'll need to get in to see Voldemort and then get him to talk about the place he keeps his Horcrux."

"Don't say that! I'll get him to talk about what happened at the place. Maybe we could get him slightly drunk. I don't think he'd let himself get very drunk like Slughorn, but perhaps enough to slightly loosen his lips if he thinks I don't know there's a Horcrux there," said Harry.

"That's mostly a good idea, except that you can't go," said Hermione.

"What do you mean I can't…"

"Your scar is a direct connection to Voldemort! He might know it's you before you even speak to him. What if he tries Legilimency? He also knows your personality! You can't risk him discovering you!"

"Fine I'll go," said Ron.

Hermione put her hand on Ron's and said, "That's very brave of you, but I don't think you're the right choice either." She took a deep breath. "I think, I think I should do it."

"No way!" said both men at once.

Harry continued. "You're a muggleborn. If they discover you, they'll…they'll…"

"Well then I just have to make sure I'm not caught."

"What makes you think you're the right choice?" asked Ginny.

Hermione sighed. "Ginny, I know you're clever and a good fighter, but I'm afraid that your experience with Tom might affect you. I believe this would be your first time facing him. If you so much as close your eyes for a second, it might give you away." She then turned to her boyfriend. "Ron, I don't know how else to say it. You wear your emotions on your sleeves, so if the Death Eaters start talking about mudbloods, your mood would give you away." She then took a deep breath. "Besides, I'm the only one of us who has studied occlumency successfully."

Everyone stared at her. "When did you study that?" demanded Harry.

"Well, I started during the summer after our fifth year. I bought a book on it."

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Ron.

Her ears turned pink. "I, er, found out that, er, the way Snape was teaching you was, well, wrong. I would've said something if Professor Dumbledore had made you continue those lessons, but I didn't want to make you mad for no reason."

"I knew that much," said Harry, "How are you supposed to teach occlumency?"

"Well, learning occlumency is learning how to fight mentally. If someone says they want to learn boxing, you don't throw them in the ring with a heavyweight champion for their first lesson. They'll get pulverized and learn nothing, and that's what happened to your mind. First you'd teach them the basics of boxing – how to punch and block, while you have them start exercising. You should've been taught mental exercises and told how to defend your mind. You then have them fight lesser opponents until you work your way up to stronger opponents while continuing to teach strategies, etc. Snape should've given light assaults and gradually increased the strength of his attacks and given advice until you were ready for a full-out assault. What he did actually risked brain damage."

Harry's face got redder and redder as he listened to Hermione. "Then why the hell didn't you believe me that Snape was evil?" he demanded, making her flinch as a stray tear started falling down her cheek.

"I…I wasn't sure. I talked to Professor Dumbledore about it at the beginning of the year and he…he assured me that just because Snape may have been a bit rough on you didn't mean he was a Death Eater." She started crying. "I…I trusted his judgment instead of my best friend's. I'm sorry."

She got up started to leave, but was stopped by Harry, who put his shoulder on her arm and gently spun her around. She saw no anger in his face anymore. He wordlessly embraced her and let her cry on his shoulder while the redheads pretended not to watch. Finally Harry spoke. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. You didn't deserve it." He took a deep breath. "I lost my temper and acted like an idiot. Do you forgive me, sis?"

A smile started to form on Hermione's lips as he called her his sister. "Of course, bro. Do you forgive me?"

He smiled back at her, "Naturally." They separated and walked back to their chairs in silence. Ginny broke the silence by saying, "Did you ever test your occlumency against someone?"

"Yes," said Hermione, "Dumbledore. When I spoke to him at the beginning of the year, he tested me and was very impressed, but he could still penetrate my shields, so he knew that Voldemort would be able to as well. He gave me advice on how to improve. I saw him twice more during the year. The last time was about a week before he died. He said he couldn't get past my mental shields."

"When did you have the time to work on it during the year?" asked Ron.

"Well, I'd stay up about an hour after I went into my dorm with the bed curtains closed reinforcing my mental walls."

Harry said, "Mental walls and shields? I don't totally understand what you're talking about."

"Because Snape taught you nothing! I'll be happy to lend you my book. It would take too long to explain it here. We need to prepare our strategy. We have to brew Polyjuice Potion. That takes a month. During that time, we have to find out where Voldemort is hiding. Then I have to get there. I think I'll have to stun someone inside, or possibly outside and get their hair then and switch clothes. Then once I'm inside, I have to speak with Voldemort."

"You're not going in alone," said Harry. "Maybe you have to be alone with Voldemort, which I don't like, but you don't have to be alone in a house full of Death Eaters. Besides, if there is a problem, we'll be close by to help you. You'll even be able to alert us with your necklace."

"She should wear an extendible ear," said Ginny, "That way we can listen in on her conversation and bust in there if she's caught."

"Well," said Hermione with a sigh of relief, "That would make it a bit easier. The first thing we need to do is buy a copy of 'Moste Potente Potions' and then get the ingredients."

"I thought you already knew how to brew it," said Ron sarcastically.

"It won't hurt to double-check. We certainly don't want any mistakes. Besides, there are a lot of other potions in that book that I'd like to read about. I think we should buy the unusual ingredients like lacewing flies separately so that it won't be obvious what we're doing."

-

The next day, after their training (which they'd skipped for actual combat for the last few days), Ron and Hermione apparated into Diagon Alley in search of what they needed to brew Polyjuice Potion while Harry and Ginny stayed behind and worked on the plans for Hermione's surprise party with the Grangers and Petunia.

"I think we should plan it before her birthday. Maybe on the twelfth. That would totally surprise her," said Harry.

Everyone agreed, and they worked out the details as quickly as they could.

-

When Ron and Hermione got back, they found Harry and Ginny snogging on the sofa. Ron said, "Oy! Can't you at least stay in the bedroom to do that? I may be scarred for life!"

They separated and Ginny grinned evilly. "Good idea. Harry, apparate us to the bedroom so we can shag!" She then kissed him while they disappeared, keeping one eye open to watch the look of horror on her brother's face. When they were on their bed, Ginny separated from Harry and started laughing until she saw the disappointed look that showed on his face for a moment.

"I get it," said Harry, faking a smile. "I'll bet Ron is going crazy now trying not to think about us shagging up here."

She looked in his eyes concernedly. "You really do want to make love now?"

"Don't worry about it Ginny. I'm not some pervert who needs it all the time. I…"

"Wanting your wife is not perverted, Harry!"

"Ok, maybe that wasn't the best terminology. My point is that I can live without it."

"My point is that you don't have to live without it, Harry," she said, while sitting on the bed next to him, taking his hands in hers. "You always wait for me to say what I want, and you always do exactly what I ask, making me very happy." She then gently pulled his hands up to her lips and kissed them while looking Harry straight in the eyes. "Now I want you to tell me what you want, so I can make you happy."

-

"I can't believe the way he just shags my sister all the time like it's the most natural thing in the world!" shouted Ron at Hermione immediately after they'd disappeared.

"It is the most natural thing in the world for a man to shag his wife!" she shouted back at Ron, "Although there are better terms for it. But I think Ginny just did that to annoy you!"

He looked at Hermione, looking relieved. "So you don't think they're really, y'know?"

Hermione looked at Ron venomously. "That's none of our business. That's why their door is permanently charmed for privacy." She grinned. "Although from the look on Harry's face, I'd guess they were."

"HIS FACE! She was joking but he wanted to! He's probably up there raping her right now! That no good, worthless…"

"RONALD WEASLEY! Do you have any idea how stupid you sound?"

"Stupid? He's up there with…" He took a deep breath. "I guess I shouldn't have had that drink at the Leaky Cauldron. I guess it's starting to kick in."

"Yes. Don't you remember? I had Tom charm it so it would take effect after you apparated." Hermione started laughing. "I don't even think anyone could apparate after what you had without getting splinched."

"What you means?" said Ron, his speech starting to slur. "I perfectlys cablple apprate."

"I'm glad I only had a butterbeer," muttered Hermione as she put her hand around Ron's waist. She apparated them into his bedroom and started to walk out the door.

He called out. "Why you no stayin' I wan…"

"I've already told you I'm not ready, and even if I were, I wouldn't want my first time to be with a drunk! You can sleep it off, and don't even ask me for a sobering charm or a hangover charm after you wake up. I should owl your mother."

"No…don' do dat Mione. I sorry. I jus' wanded to try it."

-

After Harry and Ginny came back downstairs at suppertime, Hermione said they'd had to order some of the ingredients they needed to start the potion, so they couldn't begin until those things arrived. After Harry said he understood, Hermione then told them that Ron had been drinking, which caused both Harry and Ginny to get mad. Harry marched immediately up to Ron's room, grumbling about what could have happened if the charm had failed.

Harry pointed his wand at the door, causing it to open, revealing a sleeping Ron. "Wake up!" Harry shouted, startling Ron so much that he fell out of bed.

"Wha…what?"

"Surprise combat drill!" shouted Harry. "Grab your wand before I hex you!"

Ron groggily reached for his wand. As soon as it was in his hand, Harry started firing one stinging hex after another at Ron, who tried aiming his wand but was seeing double.

"You nearly hit Hermione with that last shot! HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO DEFEND HERMIONE OR GINNY IF YOU'RE GETTING YOURSELF DRUNK!"

"Wha' I was only…"

"Only putting yours and Hermione's life at risk in a public place! What if Death Eaters attacked? She'd not only have to fight them alone, but she'd have to be defending you as well as herself! How would you feel if she died because you had to drink?"

"I…I didn't think th…"

"Damn right you didn't think! Don't get drunk again when you're supposed to be protecting someone!"

Hermione, who was behind Harry, said, "I don't need him to protect me!"

"You're supposed to be protecting each other!" Harry said quickly, "That's why I always want at least two of us together at all times!"

"Do you have to yell so loud?" asked Ron, putting his hand on his head.

Harry grinned. "I just want to get my point across. We're at war. We can't go out there without being fully alert."

Ron groaned in his agony as he held his head like he thought it would fall off. "Alright already. I won't do it again. But will you please let me sleep it off?"

-

Please review. Thank to all who have.


	22. Surprises

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 22 – Surprises**

Within two weeks, all the rare ingredients for Polyjuice Potion had arrived, and Hermione started brewing it in one of the rooms at Potter Manor. They decided to make as much as possible in case they needed more later. According to their book, Polyjuice lasted a year after being brewed. Plans for Hermione's surprise party, most of which they kept from Ron as well, were in progress. They were afraid he might slip and tell her something while they were snogging so they only told him the date so he could get a gift.

Harry let the Order of the Phoenix know that he needed to find where Voldemort was, although he was pretty sure it wouldn't help. Until they could find a known Death Eater and follow him or her to Voldemort's hideout, they had no idea where to look. That is, until one afternoon, two weeks after they started brewing the potion, when they got both lucky and unlucky.

Harry, Ginny, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and Petunia were sitting outside under the pavilion planning who to invite to Hermione's party while Hermione and Ron (who swore he would not drink any alcoholic beverage during the trip) were getting some more supplies they thought would be useful for their mission if they ever found Voldemort's hideout.

"I'm just glad we can finally be there," said Mrs. Granger. "Do you realize we haven't seen Hermione on her birthday since she started at Hogwarts?"

Ginny looked at the middle-aged couple. "That must be hard. I've always been with my family on my birthdays, even the one where everyone forgot."

"Everyone forgot one of your birthdays?" asked Petunia.

"Yeah. Two years ago. It was the day before Harry's trial and everyone was worried about that while trying to convince Harry that they weren't."

"Yes I remember. Vernon was hoping they'd throw you in prison," she responded looking at her nephew.

"Well, that's what that idiot Fudge would've wanted. His assistant Umbridge, who belongs in Azkaban by the way, is the one who sent the Dementors after me. It wasn't Voldemort after all. They just wanted to put me on trial for underage magic. Imagine if I hadn't been able to drive them away. They'd have destroyed me, Dudley, and whoever else they ran across."

Petunia paled. "I-It was the Ministry of Magic that sent them."

"Yes," said Ginny. "But she's still working for the…"

"Ahhh!" shouted Harry as he fell off the bench, his right hand holding his scar.

-

Harry was no longer looking at his family and friends. He was looking at a person wearing a Death Eater outfit. Harry was feeling ecstatic as he looked at his servant. "How many?" he asked.

A nervous man's voice that sounded strangely familiar came from behind the mask. "Ten master, including my father."

Fury filled Harry as he pointed his wand at the worthless servant in front of him. "Crucio!" After about thirty seconds, he put his wand down. The Death Eater was lying on the floor, still shaking. "Ten? Thanks to Potter and his associates, there are dozens in that place! Without the Dementors it should've been an easy victory! What happened?"

"The…the aurors…"

"Crucio!" Harry shouted at the still-shaking young man. As he listened to the screaming, he got bored and walked over to the window, carefully keeping his wand pointed at the writhing figure on the floor. He finally lifted his wand. "Tell them to meet me here in three weeks. I'll have instructions for them. In the mean time, they need to stay out of sight."

"Y-Yes master."

"Now, get out of my sight before I decide that your usefulness has come to an end."

The servant got up, scrambled to the door, and opened it wide. He walked out, closing the door carefully before disappearing behind it. Harry muttered to himself, "Yes, I'll wait here for those pathetic fools to come. With only ten more, I'll have to modify my plans."

-

"HARRY!" shouted several voices at once.

The raven-haired man found himself on the ground outside Potter Manor, with several people surrounding him. He realized that his hand was on his scar, so he put it down. His wife looked at him with concern in her eyes. "I don't think I have to ask what happened. Are you all right?"

At that moment, he realized that he was covered with sweat and breathing hard. "F-Fine."

Ginny sighed. "Did…did you learn anything?"

"Oh," he said, "Bad news. Apparently ten Death Eaters were broken out of Azkaban."

"What?"

"Yes. One of them was the father of the one who told me, I mean Voldemort." He paused for a few seconds. "I think…I think it was Draco I was, I mean he was talking to."

Ginny paled at the name of the man responsible for the worst year in her life. "You mean Lucius Malfoy has escaped?"

"If I was seeing the truth."

"We should tell the Order. They can find out if it's true. I think it is, since I can't imagine why he'd want you to see that. Speaking of which, I don't suppose you could see where he is?"

Harry closed his eyes in concentration. "I remember looking outside the window and the door, but I don't remember what was out there. I'm sorry." He put his head down in defeat.

"Don't be sorry. Use your pensieve," said Ginny with a smirk.

-

About an hour later, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione (who'd gotten back), were standing outside Harry's pensieve. They'd flooed Lupin about the vision, and after he'd checked with a few other contacts to confirm the breakout, he'd flooed them back, confirming that it was a true vision. Harry had now just placed the memory of it in the pensieve he'd inherited from Dumbledore.

-

They watched the scene unfold, looking around for clues of the location. They were now able to confirm the voice of the Death Eater as Draco Malfoy. Hermione insisted they walk through the doorway, which they did. Hermione was in the lead. Most of the outside was completely dark, but they could clearly see what was visible from the window. Hermione exclaimed excitedly, "It's a street sign!" as she ran toward a sign. She reached it and read it, smiling broadly. "I know where they are!"

Harry grinned. "And where they'll be for the next three weeks."

-

Plans were made to stake out that location as soon as the Polyjuice Potion was completed. Since this was Voldemort's lair, they didn't think it would be a good idea to visit there until they were ready. They would watch the place while disillusioned and wait for a death eater to show up. Hermione had memorized everything Voldemort wrote about what had happened at the location they were searching for.

-

Apart from their morning training, the days were relatively peaceful at Potter Manor, and they each seemed to lead into the next, and one day Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were on their way back inside the house after having a two on two Quidditch match that Harry, Ron, and Ginny had insisted on, despite Hermione's protests. When they got back inside, they found that the house was full of guests who shouted, "SURPRISE!" once the four of them had gotten inside.

"What?" asked Hermione, "is going on?"

"Your early birthday party," said Harry with a grin.

Hermione seemed to be fighting a huge grin from forming on her face as she turned toward Ron. "You knew about this?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I knew they were doing it, but they didn't tell me any details, you know. They, er, thought if I knew too much I might, y'know, accidentally slip."

Hermione allowed herself to smile broadly. "A wise precaution." She looked around to see everyone who was there. Naturally her parents and Petunia were there. Most of the Weasley family (all but Percy and Charlie), along with Neville, Luna, Lupin, Tonks, Hagrid, and McGonagall.

Harry said, "Knowing how you feel about it, I gave the house elves the day off, so Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley cooked everything with involuntarily help from various Weasley men." Harry was of course referring to Molly and Fleur.

"Thank you," said Hermione earnestly.

"Eet waz no trouble," said Fleur.

"A pleasure!" said Molly, grabbing Hermione and pulling her into a fierce hug. After releasing Hermione, Molly went to Ron, Ginny, and Harry, giving each of them a hug.

Fred walked up to Hermione and pointed his wand at her. She immediately felt something on her head. She took it off immediately and turned to Ron. "Did that do…anything to me?"

"No," said Ron honestly, so she put the hat back on and proceeded to enjoy the party.

They had lunch outside under the pavilion and played various games, although they didn't have a food fight, much to the twins' displeasure. Hermione then opened the many gifts that had been brought, mostly books, although Ron gave her a small bottle of expensive perfume. The twins gave a fireworks display just before the party ended. At the same moment that the filibuster fireworks went off, the party hat Hermione had been wearing flew up twenty feet into the air and exploded, giving a beautiful display of different-colored light. Hermione thanked everyone for coming and especially thanked the planners of the party.

-

The next day, the morning workout was interrupted by a knock at the door to the exercise room. They were actually in the middle of a duel. Harry looked over at the door, opening himself up to being hexed by his wife. Fortunately, she'd only been sending the full body-bind at him, although coming from her it did send him flying across the room stiff as a board.

Ginny ran to where her husband was lying face-down while Hermione answered the door. "I'm sorry," she said as she released him from the hex.

"No, no," said Harry. "That's good. Interruptions can occur during a fight. In fact, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to have random noises start coming during our duels." Ginny helped him up, and he kissed her quickly to show he wasn't mad. They then turned to see who had knocked at the door.

The Grangers and Petunia were now standing in the room looking very grave. Petunia spoke. "We just got a floo call from Mr. Weasley. Percy was just attacked by Death eaters and is now in St. Mungo's. They're not sure if he'll live."

-

Please review. Thanks to all who have!


	23. Worried About the Git

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 23 – Worried about the Git**

All four of them were shocked. Harry could see the worry in Ginny's eyes when she repeated what they'd just been told. "P-Percy's hurt?"

"I'm afraid so," said Petunia.

Ginny lightly sniffed while Ron looked shocked. "Why should we care?" she said with a shaky voice. "H-He sided with Fudge against Harry. He wouldn't admit he was wrong when Harry was proven right! H-He wouldn't even go to Bill's wedding, or even MINE!" Tears started falling from her eyes as Harry went to her. "Why do I feel this way? He doesn't deserve…"

"He's your brother," said Harry as he hugged his wife. Hermione was doing the same with Ron, who had a blank expression on his face like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Harry took a deep breath. "So, are you ready to leave?"

-

After they quickly cleaned up and dressed, they flooed to St. Mungo's to find a crowded hospital. The line to find out where Percy was at was enormous, and Harry was seriously considering using his fame to move to the front before he saw Fred and George with uncharacteristically somber expressions on their faces. "There's the twins," said Harry, pointing. "They'll know where he is."

The quartet walked up to the Weasley twins and said subdued 'hello's.'

Fred said, "Mum had us wait here,"

"So we could show you where he is."

They led them up to the fifth floor – the spell damage ward. Harry was holding Ginny's hand while Hermione was holding Ron's the whole way. The room they were led to was very near where Mr. Weasley had stayed a few years before. There were two aurors standing outside the door with wands drawn. Harry looked into the room and first noticed the unconscious form of Percy lying on a hospital bed. His face and arms were bruised, and Harry couldn't se any other part of him because of his bed sheet and clothes.

Harry was pulled from his thoughts by his hand being yanked by his wife into the doorway. "Come on, Harry," she said, "The guards were expecting us."

As they went into the room, he now saw Arthur, Molly, Bill, Fleur, and Charlie sitting near the bed. Ginny released Harry's hand and embraced her mother. Ron walked up to Percy's bed and stared at him for a few seconds before muttering, "You can't die now. You haven't apologized, yet. I was, kind of hoping that when the time came, you'd come to my wedding."

Ron walked back to where Hermione was standing, and Ginny walked up to Percy with tears still falling from her eyes. "I still haven't had the chance to yell at you for what you did. Splitting up the family at the time we needed each other the most. You-you have to wake up so I can hex you, you git. Don't you dare die on us!"

She rushed into Harry's arms and buried her face in his shoulder. Harry looked at Mr. Weasley. "Dad, what happened to him?"

Arthur looked at his son-in-law with a somber expression. Harry could see that he'd been crying. "He was standing near Scrimgeour while he was giving a speech about how the Ministry has everything under control when five Death Eaters somehow apparated through the wards right onto the stage. Percy threw himself in front of Scrimgeour and took this…curse. I've never heard of a curse like this. Scrimgeour ran for it and left him and the aurors that started fighting behind. Five civilians were killed, several more people hurt."

Harry looked shocked. "But there were only five of them! I mean…"

"None of the spells the aurors used affected them."

"Then how did the attack end?" asked Hermione, who'd been listening with interest.

"A few Order members were in the crowd. Remus was one of them. He pointed a muggle weapon at one of them and caused a loud bang and the Death Eater fell over dead. I think he called it a peace-tell. Anyway, the others apparated away immediately."

Harry and Hermione shared a look, realizing that Moony must have gotten himself a gun at the same time he got theirs.

They found out that one who died was wearing dragon hide armor beneath his robes.

"And the bullet penetrated it?" asked Hermione.

Arthur shook his head. "No. Lupin shot him in the face."

She cringed at the thought, but then said, "I-I guess that would be the only way."

-

They stayed in that room for a few hours chatting every now and then, until Harry, desperate to get out of that room, said, "I'm gonna get myself some tea. "Would you like some Ginny?"

"Um, yes, I guess so.

"Anybody else?"

Most of them realized they were thirsty once he'd mentioned it, and Hermione said, "I'll go with you Harry," as she got up from her chair.

Harry turned back to Ginny and said, "We'll be right back," and kissed her on the cheek.

-

Once they were far enough away, Hermione sighed with relief. "I'm so glad to be out of that room."

"I know what you mean." He took a deep breath. "I understand that Ginny and the other Weasleys care about him, and I'm trying to be a good husband, y'know, comforting Ginny, but the truth is that I didn't really ever like Percy, even before he turned on his family. I mean, I didn't want this to happen, but I wouldn't have objected to Ginny hexing him good."

Hermione smiled. "I know. I'm trying to be a good girlfriend, but – I hate to admit it – I don't really care about Percy. I keep remember him defending Crouch, and then later writing Ron to stay away from you. I'm not really worried about the git."

Harry took a deep breath. "Me neither." He then decided to change the subject. "So, how is your relationship with Ron going? I haven't heard you fighting lately."

"Oh," she chuckled, "It has been a bit better lately. He's finally accepted that I want to take things slowly. I think his…relationship…with Lavender made him think that all girls want to move quickly. Did you know that she started trying to seduce him a few weeks before they broke up?"

"No, I didn't know that," said Harry.

"We talked a lot after you spoke to him. I never thanked you for that. It really helped us a lot."

Harry smiled at his best friend/honorary sister. "Anytime, Hermione."

-

About an hour after Harry and Hermione returned with a tray full of tea, the quartet left the hospital. Mrs. Weasley promised to have them flooed if there was any change with Percy.

"We'll be back tomorrow afternoon," said Hermione as they left.

-

"How's your brother doing?" asked Mrs. Granger soon after they arrived back home. The three middle-aged muggle occupants of the house were in the living room when the others got back.

"He's in a coma and…and bruised…they….they don't know what the spell he took did to him, so they're just doing their best," answered Ginny, trying not to cry. Harry put his arm around her and led her to a chair where she sat on his lap.

-

They continued their training and visited Percy afterwards. His condition remained unchanged. Hermione's actual birthday arrived a week after her party. Although everyone wished her a happy birthday and they did have a cake, not much else was done because Ginny and Ron weren't in the mood for celebrating. They'd both thrown themselves even more into their training. Harry had commented to Mr. and Mrs. Granger that he's glad they'd had the party before Percy was attacked.

Despite the circumstances, Hermione kept preparing the Polyjuice potion, secretly enjoying the excuse to get away from the moping Weasleys. Harry had gotten Ginny to tell him that what they were most worried that he would die without being reconciled. They were worried about what that would do to the family. They knew it would absolutely devastate their mother if that happened.

One evening, after they got back from St. Mungo's, Hermione announced, "Tomorrow we're going to visit Voldemort and have a little chat."

"Hopefully we can kill the snake while we're there," said Harry with an excited expression on his face.

-

Please review. Thank you to everyone who has.


	24. A Memorable Conversation

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 24 – A Memorable Conversation**

"Goodnight Ginny," said Harry as he got into bed. "We'll need to be well-rested tomorrow. I love you."

"Harry?"

"Yes."

Ginny looked uncertainly at her husband. "I haven't been a very good wife since Percy got hurt, have I?"

Harry sat up and put his arms around Ginny. "You're the best wife anyone could ask for."

"But I haven't…we haven't…"

"Do you think that's why I married you, Ginny?" he said with concern in his voice.

"No. I know you love me. It's just…"

"You're going through a hard time right now." He took a deep breath. "You don't have to worry about that. I love you now, and I always will. You don't ever have to do anything you don't feel like doing with me. I want to love you, not use you."

"It's not using me to take what you deserve…"

"I deserve for you to hex me, divorce me, and never speak to me again."

"You do not! I know you still blame yourself for this war, but it's not your fault!"

"He dueled me and I ran away! If I'd…"

"You were fourteen years old! That bloody coward only voluntarily dueled you because he knew you didn't stand a chance! If you had won, the other Death Eaters would've killed you anyway." She then grinned. "Or made you their new leader."

"I could just see Lucius bowing down to kiss my feet," said Harry with an evil grin.

"You wouldn't be the first half-blood he's bowed to."

"That's what I just don't understand. How can those stupid Death Eaters not realize he's just using them? He cares just as much for them as he does me!"

"Except that I think he respects you."

"I doubt that," said Harry, "But one thing I do know is that his followers are crucio'd a lot more often than his enemies."

"And then they like to do that to others." She sighed as tears formed in her eyes. "What if something happens to Percy while we're gone?"

"Than we'll find out when we get back. We'll have to be focused on our mission, Ginny. We have to stop Voldemort so he can't attack people anymore."

"I, I know." She then looked intently at her husband. "Can…can you make me forget all about Percy, and Death Eaters, and Tom, just for tonight?" She scooted closer to him seductively.

"If that's what you want," he said with a smile forming on his face.

-

The next morning, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were eating breakfast with Petunia and Mr. and Mrs. Granger before leaving for their mission.

"So do you think we should wear our rings?" asked Ginny.

"Of course not," said Hermione, "They might give you away."

"But they block legilimency attacks," said Harry.

Hermione looked embarrassed. "Oh yeah. I forgot. I read about that in your vault inventory. You should wear them, then. Maybe you should disillusion them though, just in case you get caught."

"Alright," said Harry, pointing his wand at his and then Ginny's ring.

"Does everyone have a flask of Polyjuice potion in case we all have to disguise ourselves?" asked Ron.

They all nodded. "Hermione," said Harry, "I want you to be extremely careful. If you think he's suspicious, I want you to call us with your necklace. I'll be wearing the other one." Hermione nodded.

"Does everyone have their shrunken Firebolt?" asked Harry.

"Yes," they all answered.

"Swords and armor?" They nodded. "Boots filled with loaded guns, dagger, and extra wand?" They nodded again.

"Do you have that extendible ear?" asked Ginny.

"Yes, but I hope he doesn't block off the sound with a ward or something," the brunette said. "If I go in a room with him and the sound dies immediately, don't just break down the door unless I call you."

Mr. Granger looked at his daughter. He appeared ready to cry. "I, we can't tell you how proud we are that you're willing to do this for the war. If we thought we could talk you out of it, we would." Hermione smiled slightly. "I want you to know that we love you. Please be careful and come back to us." He and his wife walked up to Hermione and hugged her tightly.

When they separated, Mrs. Granger looked at the other teens. "You be careful as well. We want to have a victory party tonight."

"This won't be the end of the war, even if everything goes according to plan," said Hermione.

"You getting away from him alive will be reason to celebrate," said her father.

Petunia walked up to Harry and Ginny, hugging them both. "You be careful, all of you." She turned her gaze on the others. "Now go and…good luck to you."

-

A few minutes later, the group appeared a block away from Voldemort's hideout. "This is about a mile from my house," said Hermione. I used to ride my bike past here on the way to elementary school."

"Let's disillusion ourselves and go to the dragon's lair," said Harry once they were out of sight.

-

They approached the old house. It had sky blue paint that had seen better days. Harry, still invisible, walked up to window and looked inside. He saw Draco Malfoy sitting in the living room all alone in black robes, looking bored. Harry figured Tom was in another room, so he walked up to the door and knocked lightly with his staff. He heard footsteps approach, and the door opened.

The blonde boy that had been Harry's nemesis for seven years looked out the open door and said with his familiar sneer, "Who's there?"

Harry pointed his staff and thought, 'Stupefy!'

The Death Eater fell, but Harry caught him before he hit the floor and dragged him outside quickly while the others made sure no one noticed. They quickly got him into a nearby alley and took some hair off his head to put in Hermione's flask. While she drank her first dose, Harry petrified Draco, just to make sure he wouldn't wake up, took his outside robe, and then disillusioned him.

It was weird watching vomit come out of nowhere when Hermione got sick from the potion, but she quickly recovered and had a mint. She then reappeared, put on Draco's outside robe, and charmed her boots to look like his. Her armor and boots were charmed to adjust to her size, so there were no problems with that. She confidently walked in a very good imitation of Malfoy, and said, "You filthy mudblood!" out loud to make sure she sounded like the prat.

She walked into the house (knowing that her friends were following her) and waited for the door to close. The house looked like it used to be nice, with expensive furniture, but it all looked old now. She heard a voice that she remembered from the memories she'd seen in Harry's pensieve. "Malfoy boy! Who was that at the door?" Ginny flinched at the sound of his voice. Although it was now different, it still had traces of the boy she had met.

Thinking fast, Hermione answered. "Master, it was some filthy muggle salesman! I took him outside and…disposed of him. I disillusioned what was left of him in the alley! It'll take weeks for those filthy muggles to find him."

"Very good," hissed Voldemort.

Being a bit bold, Hermione/Draco walked toward the voice. "Thank you master," she said as she got closer, "but I've no doubt you've done better."

"I certainly have," he hissed happily.

"Master, would you honor this lowly servant with tales of your great exploits in the extermination of filthy muggles. I wish to be more like you!"

"A noble goal, to be sure, but no mere Death Eater like yourself can ever hope to be like me. Crucio!"

Hermione had figured this would probably happen, but that didn't prepare her for the pain. He'd aimed his wand at her face, so any hope she'd held that her armor would protect her was lost. She knew that she wasn't holding up her occlumency during the torture, so she closed her eyes until it was over a few seconds later. Ron in the meantime was being held back by Harry, who had made it a point to stay near his friend just in case this happened. "You'll make this be for nothing," he whispered. Ron relented, but did not seem pleased.

When Riddle released the curse, he continued speaking as though nothing had happened as Hermione did her best to maintain her composure and occlumency shields. She then noticed Nagini was randomly crawling around the room out of the corner of her eye, but managed to stay focused on Riddle. "Nevertheless, tales of my exploits are certainly worth telling as examples for you to follow. I remember the first time I used the cruciatus curse," he said nostalgically. I was still a child, and was inside a cave with some filthy muggle children. I didn't even have a wand yet, so I'd imagine it wasn't nearly as focused as when I use one, but they were begging me to stop as soon as I'd begun." He chuckled. "They were never the same after that, and they never questioned my superiority after that."

Hermione, although she wanted to throw up again, forced herself to laugh gleefully and said, "Master, I wish I could have seen that. I wonder. As a child, when was the first time you did that to a filthy muggle adult who thought they had authority over the heir of Slytherin?"

Tom laughed again and pointed his wand at the door to the room they were in. It closed. Hermione forced herself not to gulp. "For security," he stated simply, and then continued talking. "Because of the circumstances of my birth, I was forced to go to a filthy muggle home during the summers. When I was fourteen, a muggle woman who worked there told me I couldn't leave at night, and locked me in my room. I escaped when she was leaving and followed her." He paused and smiled.

"Where did she go?"

The dark lord chuckled to himself. "I'll never forget it. Number Seven Hope Drive. She went into the house and kissed her filthy muggle husband. For a muggle, she was fairly attractive. They do have their uses. I unlocked the door with my wand and crucio'd her husband properly with my wand while she begged me to release him. I told her to take off her clothes. By the time that slow-moving muggle was naked it was too late for her husband. He'd lost his mind. Then I turned on her.

-

While Hermione was listening to his disgusting tale of torture and rape, pretending to enjoy it, secretly satisfied that Voldemort had already given her the information she needed, Ron, Ginny, and Harry were worried. Once the door shut, the extendable ears were useless, so they had to wait in silence until they heard the outside door open. They looked toward the noise and couldn't believe it. Five Death Eaters had walked into the house. One was Lucius Malfoy, but they didn't recognize the others, but did recognize the magical eye that one of them had instead of a right eye. It turned and looked straight at Harry. "Put on you glasses. We've got company, including Harry Potter."

As the other Death Eaters put on what appeared to be normal glasses, Harry (who already had his staff) fired a reducto at the one who'd spotted them. It hit his neck separating his head from his body.

Ginny looked at the killer who'd slipped her Riddle's diary, and fired a reducto from her staff at him as well, but not before he'd shot a cutting hex that hit her left shoulder despite her quick reflexes (it was aimed at her heart but she dodged). Fortunately, it didn't affect her armor. It just cut her robe. When Ginny's curse hit Lucius, it separated his right arm from his body. She pterodactyl-bogie hexed him while he bled horribly and then summoned his wand out of his separated hand. He lost consciousness from lack of blood before the bogies were done with him

Ron wasted no time using a cutting hex at another's feet, causing him to fall over and trip another.

Harry was about to send a curse at the last one when he felt the necklace warn that Hermione was in danger.

-

After the door was closed, no sound could pass through it. No one could overhear the conversation in the room, and they couldn't hear what was going on outside. And so, as Voldemort ended his gruesome tale, he had no idea of the battle going on. Hermione had taken a drink during the tale, but so far Tom didn't suspect a thing.

"…and so when I was done, I crucio'd the filthy muggle until she couldn't remember who she was, to say nothing of telling anybody what I'd done. I even scourgified her so they wouldn't have evidence," the monster bragged. Hermione flinched just slightly at the thought of what he'd done, but Voldemort noticed. His expression grew angry. "You would dare judge your lord! Crucio!"

As Hermione writhed on the floor in agony, her eyes opened for just a moment, and she saw Voldemort's red eyes staring into hers. As his expression changed to a mixture of glee and fury, she knew he'd read her thoughts. She forced her shaking hand to grab the necklace to call for help.

-

Harry shot the last Death Eater with a cutting curse to his throat. He screamed, "Ron, make sure these don't get up! Ginny, come with me! Hermione's in trouble!" and turned to run into the room. Ginny got there first and blasted the door off its hinges. "Reducto!" shouted Harry, pointing his staff at Voldemort. He dodged, but released Hermione from the torture curse. Harry heard Ginny blast something, but didn't look to see what it was. Instead he shot a cutting curse at Tom's wand hand, this time making contact, causing Riddle to drop his wand. He screamed, "Let's go!" as he grabbed the still-shaking Hermione by the shoulders.

"I'll take her," said Ron from behind him.

"Ok," Harry said, as he saw Voldemort hit with a pterodactyl-bogey hex. Harry kept his staff pointed at Riddle while Ron picked up Hermione. Harry smiled slightly at the sight of what appeared to be Draco picked up by an invisible person. They ran out of the house while Voldemort was fighting his own huge bogies.

Once they were out of the house, Hermione shakily said, "I got the address."

"You did a great job. We need to get home. Ron, apparate her. Ginny, come here!"

Ron left immediately with a small pop while Harry waited to feel Ginny in his arms. Just as she touched him, Voldemort, free of his bogies and looking furious, stepped out of the house. He heard Ginny whisper, "I got Nagini!"

As Harry apparated them away, he smiled and whispered, "I guess he noticed. Not to mention the five dead Death Eaters he must have seen."

-

When Harry and Ginny arrived, Hermione/Draco was struggling to walk on her own with Ron next to her. He made himself visible as Ginny did the same.

"H-Harry. You'll have to g-go now. He knows we know. Y-You've g-got to get it before he m-moves it."

"Are you all right?" he said concerned.

"I-I will be. Just don't make this be for nothing."

"We can take care of her," said Mrs. Granger. "You three, go."

He looked at Ron and Ginny, both of which nodded, and said, "What's the address?"

-

Less than five minutes later, Harry was apparating them (Ginny side-along while Ron was just following which didn't require extra power from him) to a gas station one mile away from the location where Vernon had once stopped at while trying to avoid a bunch of letters from Hogwarts. They, along with their brooms, were already disillusioned. They mounted the Firebolts and took off.

-

Please review. Thank you to all who have.


	25. Swordplay

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 25 – Swordplay**

As Harry, Ginny, and Ron raced on their Firebolts, Harry thought back to how Hermione had told them the address, admiring how brilliant she was.

-

"What's the address?" he'd asked her.

"I c-can't tell you b-because of the charm," Hermione shakily said.

"Damn!" muttered Harry.

"B-but Voldemort c-can," Hermione made it a point not to stutter on Tom's name as she reached into her pocket, pulling out a muggle tape recorder. "I t-taped our conversation."

Harry smiled broadly. "Ron, kiss Hermione for me! That's bloody brilliant!"

After Ron quickly kissed the blushing brunette, they started playing the tape, fast forwarding it until it got to the point where Voldemort said, "Number Seven Hope Drive." Hermione stuttered while explaining where that was at, and Harry realized he'd ridden nearby the location while Vernon was trying to escape Harry's first Hogwarts letter.

-

Now as they reached the destination, they all concentrated on the address, and the old house appeared in front of them. They shrunk their brooms and stored them in their pockets. Running forward, Harry used his staff to blast the door off its hinges once he was inside the property line (therefore invisible to the neighbors). He stepped in, followed closely by Ginny and Ron, and looked around. The house looked ready to fall to pieces. There was no furniture in the living room at all. It was completely dusty, except for a set of footprints that led straight into a wall.

"Reducto!" shouted Harry as he blasted at the wall. The wall wasn't affected.

"I wonder if it needs blood," said Ron as he walked forward.

"Wait, I'll…" said Harry, but Ron had already gotten a bit of his blood and was about to touch the wall. "Stop!" Harry said, "Let's do that test Hermione taught us!"

They performed a spell on the wall and learned that Ron would've died if he touched it. They also found out that nothing was hidden behind the door. "Tom must have faked the footprints," said Ginny.

Both Harry and Ginny did the Horcrux detection spell with their staffs, taking opposite sides of the room. After five minutes, Ginny said, "I've found it!" when she detected a hint of it and slowly approached another wall. She performed the other test on it and detected a staircase, and that it required blood to remove the wall. Ron touched his almost dry blood to that wall and they found a staircase that led downward.

"It feels hot in here," said Ron.

"I know," said Ginny, and then smirked at Harry. "Maybe he does have a Horcrux hidden in Hell," remembering Harry comment from when he first told her about Horcruxes. Harry took a step down and suddenly there was a blast at the staircase under Harry's feet, and the floor beneath him fell."

"Wingardium Leviosa!" shouted Ron, stopping Harry from falling to certain death. Ginny then quickly summoned Harry back to the floor that was still there.

"You'll never win, Potter! I've got the Horcrux safe, and you're going to die!" Voldemort hissed from below them.

Harry pointed his staff directly below them. Then he whispered, "Cushioning charm," to his companions as he jumped down. The siblings looked at each other and followed.

Harry landed on his feet right in front of Tom, who immediately shot him in the chest with the cruciatus curse. The snake held his wand in his right hand, which now had four silver fingers on it where Harry had wounded him earlier that day, and a quill in the other. The mithril armor blocked the curse, and Harry kicked Voldemort's left hand while the undead beast was startled. He let go of the quill, which Harry summoned and then handed to Ginny, who was now behind him.

"Crucio!" shouted Voldemort, this time aiming at Harry's head. He fell to the floor in agony.

Ginny handed Ravenclaw's quill to her brother, who had a basilisk tooth with him. He pulled it out and disillusioned himself, the tooth, and the quill. He prepared to destroy the Horcrux while Ginny conjured a similar-looking quill in her hand. "Stop it Tom!" she shouted, "I've got your filthy soul fragment here!"

Harry's torture stopped as Voldemort looked at Ginny and grinned. "Ah yes, Ginny Weasley, or is it Potter now? What is it with Potter men and redheads, anyway?"

"We've got good taste!" growled Harry as he got up.

"Stay where you are Harry, or watch me torture your wife!" Tom's wand was pointed at Ginny. Harry looked ready to kill, but didn't move. "I'm going to summon your staff, and you're going to let me have it," he said.

Harry thought, 'I sure am going to let you have it,' as he nodded. Voldemort summoned the staff and held it in his left hand.

He pointed the staff at Harry while his wand was pointed at Ginny. "Now throw down your staff, Mrs. Potter." She did as Tom said. "Now, give me the quill."

"And you won't hurt Harry?"

He smiled, "And I won't hurt Harry."

"Fine, take it!" she said and opened her palm for him to summon it.

"I must ask, how ever did you get here? Surely your ally was in no shape to lead you here."

Ginny smirked. "A muggle tape recorder."

Riddle laughed. "I must admit, that was clever. I must check for those from now on. Now you may go, you silly girl!"

"What about Harry?" she said angrily.

"I won't hurt him a bit," said Tom, pointing Harry's own staff at him. "Avada Kadavra!"

A thick beam of green light shot out of the staff and hit Harry in the chest. He didn't move. Tom panicked, hoping that it wouldn't bounce back at him. "You can't kill me Riddle!" shouted Harry, bluffing as he felt the hole in his armor.

"There are other ways to kill," Tom said smugly. "I'm afraid I'll have to break my word to you. This will hurt. Sectumsempra!"

As the curse hit Harry, he had to agree with Voldemort. It sure did hurt to be sliced like that. He was bleeding terribly, and he realized at that moment, he failed. Voldemort did kill him, and would kill Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and everybody else who didn't bow to him. Ginny ran to her husband, tears already flowing.

"Yes, cry for your pathetic husband! Mourn for him as all the world will when I display his body as my trophy." He then turned his attention to the quill he'd caught in his wand hand since he didn't need to point two wands anymore. He put his own wand away and pointed Harry's staff at Ginny.

Suddenly Voldemort's face filled with rage. "THIS IS NOT RAVENCLAW'S QUILL!" He violently summoned Ginny away from her husband and into a wall, turning his back on Harry. "Crucio!" he shouted, causing her agony for a few seconds. He stopped and shouted, "Where is it!"

At that moment a screaming was heard as green smoke came from a corner that appeared unoccupied. Voldemort turned back to Ginny, picking her up, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!"

She spit in his face. "Destroyed your sixth Horcrux, Tom!"

"What!" He'd read from Hermione's mind that they were aware of the Horcruxes, but not that they all were gone.

She actually grinned in his terrifying face. "I killed Nagini! Dumbledore destroyed Slytherin's ring! Harry destroyed your diary, Slytherin's locket, and Hufflepuff's cup! They're all gone now, Tom!"

He slapped her face and let her fall to the ground. "Stop calling me ugg!" Tom fell to the ground as a fist made contact with his head.

Harry, healed from Ginny's tears, drew his sword.

"What!" shouted Voldemort. He pointed Harry's staff at Ginny and shouted, "Sectumsempra!" and turned his attention back to Harry, who was carefully advancing, remembering everything he'd been taught. "Reducto!" shouted Riddle.

Harry dodged the beam of light, still advancing. "I told you that you can't kill me! I'm the one who knows the full prophecy." Harry was bluffing, knowing that the prophecy didn't guarantee him the winner, but he wanted to scare Voldemort into doing something stupid.

Voldemort was now officially frightened as this man whom he'd failed killing now more times than he could count advanced at him with a sword. He was mortal now without his Horcruxes and he knew it. He conjured a sword and held it in his right hand while the staff was in his left. Harry reached him and they started fighting.

The swords clashed together as Riddle proved to Harry that he knew how to swordfight. Occasionally Tom would clumsily hit Harry with the staff, but it was obvious that Riddle couldn't fight with his two hands, and Harry took advantage of that fact as he attacked with both a sword and a fist to the fingers of other hand, causing him to drop Harry's staff.

Now both were evenly armed, with both their hands gripping their blades as they clashed over and over. Riddle hissed, "Even if you beat me your beloved is dead by now!"

"I am not, Tom!" shouted Ginny from behind. He'd shot her armor, which had absorbed his curse.

"What?" shouted Voldemort, distracted enough for Harry to cut off his hands, and then bring the sword of Gryffindor up to chop off the Heir of Slytherin's head.

Riddle's body fell to the floor writhing around in shock as Harry realized that his nemesis was finally dead. He stood there in amazement that he'd actually fulfilled the prophecy. He barely registered the fact that Ginny was now at his side with an arm around his shoulders. He felt another hand touch him and looked to his other side, seeing nothing. A few seconds later, Ron appeared in front of him as he made himself visible.

"I knew you could do it, mate," the red-headed man that had been his first friend said.

"So did I," said Harry's wife.

Harry smiled. "My life belongs to me now."

"Don't you mean us," said Ginny happily.

-

They gathered up the wands, as well as Voldemort's remains (which they put in a box Harry conjured), and left on their brooms. Harry felt they should confirm Voldemort was indeed dead, so they apparated to St. Mungo's (Ron took Ginny, Harry took Voldemort). Truthfully Harry didn't want to leave that corpse lying around, and he didn't know where else to bring a body.

Harry saw the line at the desk and decided to use his fame for a change. "I am Harry Potter, and I've brought Voldemort's body with me, and I'd like the best healer here to confirm that he's dead," he said after performing a Sonorus charm. It got quiet there fast as everybody turned to look at him, most of whom moved their eyes up to his scar.

He and his companions were dirty and disheveled, but it was easy to see that Harry was who he said he was, and within thirty seconds a healer walked up to him and said, "Hello Mr. Potter, that's excellent news! I'm Healer Watson. Is the body in this crate?"

Harry smiled at the middle aged woman. "Yes. Is there a room we can go in? I don't think everyone needs to see it. Er, he's been decapitated." She looked at him strangely. "I know that's not very pretty, but we were fighting with swords at the end. It was kill or be killed, believe me."

"I'm not judging that. I'm just surprised you want his death confirmed if his head is separated from his body."

Ginny spoke up. "This isn't the first time he's been believed dead. We don't want him coming back."

"I see your point, Miss…"

"Mrs. Ginny Potter," said Ginny, extending her hand to shake Healer Watson's, "and this is my brother Ron Weasley. We have another brother here, who's…"

"Percy Weasley? Yes, I should've recognized you. Anyway, let's get to an examining room."

-

After spending an hour performing every test she could think of, Healer Watson left the room where Harry, Ginny, and Ron were guarding the body and proclaimed, "Voldemort is finally dead," to the press and everyone else who had gathered in the now crowded hall.

"Is it true that Harry Potter is the one who killed him, and he's in that room?" asked a reporter, thus beginning the new nightmare of Harry Potter, the Man Who Conquered, as the press started harassing him yet again.

When Harry got out of the room and past the press (to whom he insisted that the victory belonged to Ginny Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley as much as to himself), he found that all the Weasleys were at the hospital, and that the Grangers and Petunia had taken Hermione there as well after they'd left. According to the Healer in charge of Hermione's case, she'd stop stuttering in a few days, and would be back to normal in about a month, but she may have occasional muscle spasms every now and then for about a year. Percy's condition still hadn't changed.

The Weasleys and many from the Order of the Phoenix came to Potter Manor for the victory celebration. Hermione was even allowed to come home after the Healer was assured that a house elf would tend to her every need until she was recovered.

Minerva made it a point to congratulate the group on a job well done, and let them know that she was going to petition the board of governors to reopen the school in January. She also mentioned that Professor Dumbledore's portrait is most anxious to hear a first hand account of the battle. She also informed them that Draco Malfoy was found by aurors where Harry had said, still unconscious and disillusioned. The aurors were still trying to round up all the Death Eaters they could, and the Order was also helping.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the aurors would take you now, even without any N.E.W.T.s, although I certainly hope you'll return to Hogwarts and finish them," said Minerva.

"Actually, after everything that's happened, I don't think I want to work for the Ministry of Magic anymore."

McGonagall smiled slightly. "I understand. Then may I ask what your plans are?"

"Well," said Harry, "As far as money goes, I don't really need to work, although life would probably get boring if I didn't do something. As I see it, there are three things I can think of. One is teaching, because I did enjoy the D.A. Another is professional Quidditch. The last is a private detective."

-

Please review. Thank you to all who have. All that's left now is an epilogue. I hope you enjoyed the final battle. By the way, I think if a parchment written by the Secret-Keeper will work, so will a cassette tape.


	26. Epilogue

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

**Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 26 – Epilogue**

"And Harry Potter has caught the Snitch! The Chudley Canons have won the World Cup for the tenth year in a row!" announced Lee Jordan, the official announcer for the Chudley Canons, while the crowd cheered.

As Harry, clad in an orange Quidditch uniform, flew to his favorite teammate, one of the Chasers, and kissed her rather passionately while they were still on their brooms, the announcer continued.

"As you know, this was the last professional game for both Harry and Ginny Potter. Mr. Potter just turned thirty last month and feels that it's time to move on, and his wife is only one year younger, and has elected to leave the Canons with her husband, and they have both accepted teaching positions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I can only guess that the team manager is quite disappointed that his sister and her husband are leaving the team. Mr. Potter has been the Seeker for eleven years, and has never failed to catch the Snitch, while his wife joined the team one year later, and has been one of the best Chasers I've ever seen. Let's hear a round of applause for these incredible Quidditch players!" The crowd went wild with applause as Harry and Ginny's kiss broke apart.

The still-very-much-in-love couple held hands as they flew down to land and continued holding hands as they walked toward the locker rooms. "Well," said Harry, "if I'm going to quit playing, I'd rather quit with a perfect record instead of waiting until I ruin it. For a minute I thought that young kid was gonna beat me."

Ginny giggled. "That would've made him an instant celebrity. The only Seeker to ever beat Harry Potter while he was conscious."

"Those two times were from our Hogwarts years, and don't count in the official records," he said defensively. They separated to the different locker rooms, kissing briefly before parting.

After his shower, while Harry was still putting his shirt on, a thirty-year-old man with red hair walked up to him with a smile on his face. "Great game!" The man sighed. "Well mate, it seems you still have a perfect record. Are you sure you want to quit?"

Harry chuckled. "Yes Ron, I'm sorry, but I feel that now's the time to do it."

"I'm gonna have a hard time finding a Seeker with half your talent. And on top of that, you're taking Ginny with you. We've turned the Chudley Canons into a championship team, and I'm afraid that with both of you gone…"

"Ron, you turned the team around by finally getting some good players and…"

"I know. You gave me that speech last week, and you also pointed out that the longest anyone plays Quidditch is until they're thirty-five." Ron shrugged his shoulders. "That's another five years."

Harry sighed. "I barely caught the Snitch today. I'd rather leave as a champion than a has-been everybody is waiting to drop dead. You retired from playing three years ago when you recruited John. You told me that you needed to make room for better players. That's one of the things that used to be wrong with the team. The old manager kept players past their prime. That's why it was so easy to get his job once the owner knew that you were interested. Besides, with Tonks moving with her family, McGonagall needs a new defense teacher. Not to mention Madam Hooch's decision to finally retire made it perfect for Ginny and I to go together."

"I guess so. I hope that American research center for Lycanth…lychan…werewolves can help Moony."

Harry frowned. "Just the fact that werewolves have a lot more rights over there should help. Did you know he's already gotten a job teaching at that school in Salem? And he doesn't have to keep his condition a secret."

"He's gonna be busy, then," said Ron.

"He's worked it out. He'll be helping out at the research center two days per week and teaching for three days. The center's happy to have him at all." Harry grinned. "He's as famous as me with the werewolf population. Anyway, I'm dressed now. Let's go to the victory party?" As he got up, Harry asked, "Is Hermione gonna be there?"

"Of course! She wouldn't miss your last victory party. She's just got to help mum get the kids to the Burrow first."

As they walked out the door, five kids that were crowded around Ginny ran toward Harry. It was hard to make out what exactly was said in between the shouts of 'Daddy' and 'Uncle Harry' as several sets of arms went around him.

Harry's oldest was a nine-year-old girl that had red hair, freckles, and green eyes. She was named Lily Molly Potter. He also had a seven-year-old boy with messy raven-colored hair and brown eyes named James Ronald Potter. His youngest was a four-year-old boy with messy red hair and brown eyes names Sirius Remus Potter.

Ginny had managed to make sure she had the babies in the off season so that she didn't have to miss games because of it. Each of them was born in January. The way she'd insured that was simple. She didn't take her potion in April and let whatever would happen, happen. She'd surprised everyone a few months before by announcing that she was pregnant yet again. Harry wasn't comfortable with her playing three to four months pregnant, but couldn't stop her anyway so he avoided the argument. She was allowed protection around her stomach in case of a Bludger hit, but as one of the team's fastest fliers, she rarely got hit. She was just starting to show.

The other two kids belonged to Ron and Hermione, who had married a month after they graduated Hogwarts. They had an eight-year-old that had bushy red hair named Arthur Adam Weasley and a six-year-old girl with very manageable long brown hair named Marissa Ginevra Weasley.

"Congratulations Harry!" said a muggle woman in her late fifties as she embraced her nephew.

"Thanks, Aunt Petunia, and thanks for coming to the game." Harry's kids now started hugging their Aunt Petunia.

She smiled at him. "It was fun, although I must say I'm glad you're retiring from Quidditch. With those dangerous dives I'm surprised you haven't killed yourself yet."

Harry made no comment on that. He got the same lecture from his aunt at every game she attended, which was two or three per year. "Have you heard anything from Dudley?"

She lowered her eyes. "I haven't seen or heard from him since Vernon's funeral." She sighed. "I wish I hadn't even gone."

"I know what he said, but his heart attack wasn't your fault. Uncle Vernon never took care of himself before the divorce or after."

She took a deep breath and gave a small smile. "I guess you're right. I've got to go. I promised Robert I'd meet him in an hour."

Harry chuckled. "How long have you been dating him anyway? When are you two gonna get married?"

She blushed and simply said, "Bye, Harry. I love you."

"I love you too, Aunt Petunia. Have fun. Maybe he'll pop the question tonight."

She turned and walked away without answering that comment and the kids started complimenting Harry's performance in the game until Hermione showed up with Molly and herded them away.

-

After an enjoyable, yet sad party (knowing that it would be the last one for Harry and Ginny) wherein they all complimented each others' performance and laughed at the Irish team's blunders, the team presented both Harry and Ginny with gifts. Ginny was crying before long.

The next day Harry walked into the trophy room of Gryffindor Manor to see Ginny staring at the wall. This particular mansion was very close to Hogwarts, and in fact was connected by a secret passage that wasn't put on the Marauder's map because it was unplotable, not to mention that the portrait in Hogwarts that guarded the entrance would only open for a member of the Gryffindor family. Harry had introduced Ginny to the portrait when they found the passage while exploring the mansion. They decided to move from Potter Manor when they decided to teach and were just inspecting the house elves' work in setting up the house.

Hermione was using Dumbledore Manor (which had a library that made Hermione faint) as headquarters for a society dedicated to working toward equal rights for all sentient magical beings (Society Encouraging Welfare and Equal Rights for Sentients – S.E.W.E.R.S.), which she worked at part time during the school year while she was teaching transfiguration and full time during the summer. They mainly sent out informative booklets on the way centaurs, werewolves, goblins, and (of course) house elves, among other magical creatures, have been treated by wizards. They also had a section in it about muggleborns and half bloods, which included notable ones (both Harry Potter and Tom Riddle were always in the notable half-bloods list). It also gave Hogwarts statistics about the scholastic success of those three categories of wizards, showing that they're mostly the same, except that purebloods have been slowly falling behind due to intermarriages (like Crabbe's and Goyle's families).

She and the other people she forced (by guilt-tripping) to volunteer (mostly Weasleys except for Harry, Neville, and Luna – even Percy who'd recovered and eventually reconciled with most of the family – he joined S.E.W.E.R.S. in hopes of getting on Ron's good side – he and the twins put up with Percy for their parents' sakes but didn't really like him) had had success in getting some laws passed. Percy had helped a lot with the legalities. It was now illegal to physically harm a house elf (or to order it to do so). She was still working on getting some type of affirmative-action on hiring werewolves, which she'd already done with half-bloods and muggleborns, but so far hadn't had any success. She'd gotten the famous Boy-Who-Lived, Man-Who-Conquered, Order-of-Merlin-First-Class, Most-Famous-Quidditch-Player-Ever to make a few guest appearances and speeches. The fact that he owned the house that she used for the society's meetings didn't hurt either (nor did the fact that Dumbledore owned it beforehand). She also knew that her and her husband's Orders of Merlin didn't hurt her society's popularity either.

Harry walked past the display of Quidditch cups to see that she was looking at the two Order of Merlin certificates hanging there. Harry's was first class, while Ginny's (along with Ron's and Hermione's) was second class. Harry would have protested but Ginny calmed him down at the award ceremony.

"Has it really been over twelve years?" she asked when she noticed her husband approaching.

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "Do you remember what we did after the ceremony?"

"The first time we visited here?" He nodded. "Mm Hmm," she said seductively, causing him to blush.

"Not to mention all the times we snuck into the manor after school started."

She giggled. "I couldn't believe that McGonagall made us – a married couple – sleep separately. I mean you were Head Boy and had your own room…"

"That no female could take one step into without being thrown backwards," Harry said laughing.

"With a scarlet 'S' for Slag branded on my forehead. I would've killed McGonagall for not warning me if Hermione hadn't been able to remove it!"

"I thought it stood for Sexy."

"What was really funny is that Hermione didn't warn Ron," she said, joining Harry in his laughter.

Harry was turning blue. "Instead she invited him into her room."

They both laughed at the recollection of that memory for about ten minutes until Harry said, "I think the place is ready. We should go tell the kids."

"Ok." Ginny then went to the fireplace and called the Burrow. About a minute after she pulled her head out, the kids started flooing in (Lily held Sirius' hand while James flooed alone).

As soon as they were inside, Sirius ran up to Harry shouting, "Daddy, Daddy! I gots yer choclat frog card! Look!" He was proudly holding it and showing the picture of Harry that was taken over a decade ago.

"They still make that card?" he asked, surprised.

"Of course they do, Harry," said Ginny. "They still make Dumbledore, don't they? They even still make Merlin."

-

Despite the fact that there were ten identical bedrooms available for the kids to choose from, they ended up arguing about it until their parents decided to assign one to each kid. None were given the one they'd fought over. Once that was settled, the elves brought the kids' stuff to the appropriate room.

-

A few days later, Headmistress McGonagall made her speech at the opening feast of Hogwarts, introducing Ginny as the new flying instructor and Quidditch sponsor and Harry as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Ginny got a lot of applause, but nothing compared to Harry's. They had sat down between the Herbology teacher, Neville Longbottom, and the Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor House, Hermione Weasley. Ginny, who was next to Hermione, began chatting with her once the speech was over while Harry spoke to Neville.

"How have you been, Neville?" he asked. "I haven't seen you for about a year."

"Yeah, when I watched you beat Bulgaria for the cup. I heard Krum retired after that game."

Harry chuckled. "I think I'm the only one that ever beat him."

"But how many years in a row?"

He chuckled but changed the subject. "How's your family?"

"Oh, Luna and the kids are great. I just wish running the Quibbler didn't take her away so much. She makes it a point to spend the whole weekends with us though. She says that if she didn't some wiltfighops would start to grow in her hair."

Harry laughed with Neville at that statement.

-

Harry nervously paced in front of his classroom on the first day of classes. He'd always kept up his defense skills, even when he was playing Quidditch, mainly because there were still a lot of left over Death Eaters, not to mention nuts, who wanted to see him dead. He was a bit miffed that his very first class would be seventh years. Tonks had written down what she'd taught them so he knew where in their N.E.W.T. preparation they were, and he had the lesson planned, but he'd hoped to start off with first years. He knew that Tonks was a great teacher, but he had his own ideas of how defense should be taught and was really looking forward to starting his seven-year program with the new students. All too soon the students filed into the classroom.

He noticed that most of them were staring at him in awe. After the bell rang, he began. "Hello everyone. My name is Harry Potter, and I'd…Yes Miss?" While he was speaking, a dark-skinned girl from Ravenclaw raised her hand.

"Jackson, sir. Linda Jackson. Is it true that you used a sword to kill you-know-who?"

Harry smiled. "Who?"

"You know, he-who-must-not-be-named."

"Who must not be named, and why?"

She really looked uncomfortable. She whispered, "V-V-Voldemort." Most of the students flinched.

"Voldemort," Harry answered ignoring the reactions, "is made from the letters of his real name, Tom Marvolo Riddle. He was an evil wizard who was born and eventually died like any other wizard. Fear of a name, or in this case an anagram, only increases fear of the thing itself. If you want me to answer a question about Voldemort, you'll have to say his name loudly and clearly."

"Is it true you killed V-Voldemort with a sword?" the seventeen-year-old girl asked.

"Yes. You see, defense against the dark arts isn't just about memorizing a bunch of spells and throwing them at dark wizards. The whole time you're facing them you know that there's nothing between you and dying except your own – your own brains and guts or whatever – like you can think straight when you know you're about a second from being murdered, or tortured, or watching your friends die." He had the whole class's undivided attention.

After waiting a few moments, he continued, "I hope none of you has to face that situation, but if you do, you won't have time to prepare then. You use whatever is available. Yes, I'll teach you the right spells, but it's very easy to lose your wand in a fight. I plan on starting a club that teaches physical fitness and unarmed muggle-style fighting. If I get permission from the headmistress, I'll include muggle weapons like swords as well." He took a deep breath. "I knew I'd be facing Voldemort, so I trained in everything I could think of. I even had to use a muggle gun on one Death Eater." When he saw the shocked looks on their faces, he added, "It may surprise you to know that Professor Weasley trained with myself, her husband, and my wife in those weapons as well."

Another hand went up. "Did she fight V-V-Voldemort?"

He smiled. "Professor Weasley is the cleverest person I ever knew. She won a battle of the minds with Voldemort. Has anyone ever heard of the Fidelius Charm?" He then explained how Hermione had gotten Tom to reveal the location, but didn't mention Horcruxes, instead calling it a special weapon. The class got him to talk about several battles with Death Eaters for the hour. He felt it was on topic, so it wasn't a wasted hour. He eventually took attendance before dismissing class and assigning an essay on fighting dark wizards.

At lunch, Harry noticed the way most of the students were looking at Hermione and whispering. Harry asked her, "Didn't you ever tell the students about your role in the last war?"

Her cheeks went pink. "No. It's not something I really like to talk about."

"Oh. I didn't realize that. Some of the class asked about the war and I answered their questions."

She then looked at the students who were looking at her. "What did you tell them?" asked Ginny who was sitting with them.

"That you won a battle of the minds with Voldemort, and you'd participated in several attacks against Death Eaters, and that you can fight with a sword."

Ginny giggled. "I think they're almost as impressed with you as they are with Harry."

-

The Potters had generously and anonymously donated enough new brooms to the school for flying lessons so that they wouldn't have to use the ones originally purchased while Dumbledore was a student. Ginny was glad about that. It made accidents much less likely during the class that she was about to teach.

When the nervous first-years lined up in class, Ginny said kindly, "Hello everyone. My name is Professor Potter, and I'm going to teach you how…Yes?" A little hand had gone up.

"Professor Potter, is it true that you can fight with a sword?"

She smiled. Harry didn't say he'd mentioned that she could fight with a sword. "What's your name?"

"Alice Jordan, ma'am."

"Well, it is true that I can fight with a sword, but I can also ride a broom. That's what this class is about…"

-

They went through that lesson without any problems. Time went quickly from there. Ginny had the baby – a boy with red hair and freckles they named Brian Albus Potter – in January just like her other children. Ginny gave a lot more flying lessons than Madam Hooch had. She taught kids a lot more than the basics of flying. Harry's defense lessons, as well as his club that he'd gotten Hermione and Ginny to help him with, were successes, and soon became the lessons the students looked forward to the most. He soon adopted a policy of one Voldemort question per class. Harry and Ginny both were very happy with their new lives of teaching, and were glad that they still could live in their own house, but were dreading something that neither of them would mention to the other. 'What happens when their own kids start attending Hogwarts?'

The end?

-

Please review. Thank you to those who have. This has been an enjoyable experience for me, and I hope for you as well. Now if I can only get J.K. Rowling to use this story.

P.S. In my stories, I use Adam and Marissa as Hermione's parents' names. Using the same names in each story is less confusing for me, so after I chose them, I decided to stick with them for all my stories. Her kids are partially named after them.

Brian Albus Potter is named after Dumbledore. I wasn't cruel enough to name an innocent child Albus. Brian is one of Dumbledore's many middle names, so I thought it was appropriate.


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